


Spider-Man: Terms of Endearment

by Spideyfan62



Series: Peter Parker's Senior Year Survival [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cause He's Caught In the Middle of Too Much Stuff, F/M, Identity Reveal, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spideychelle, This Is My Attempt To Answer That, Valentine's Day, What Even Happened With May And Happy After Far From Home?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25488571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spideyfan62/pseuds/Spideyfan62
Summary: "Well then, you all enjoy your stereotypical celebration of a day that has the audacity to commercialize 'love'," M.J. retorted back at them, and Peter couldn't help but shake his head and smile. Leave it to M.J. to rail against something that so many people just accepted as the status quo."Oh come on, M.J," Betty whined. "I'm sure you and Peter will be doing something for Valentine's, right?"M.J. looked at Peter before responding, and it didn't go unnoticed that she offered him the faintest smile, which sent his stomach into a tailspin."Well, Peter actually hasn't told me what he has planned yet," M.J. admitted.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker & Betty Brant, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, maybe?
Series: Peter Parker's Senior Year Survival [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761355
Comments: 18
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In this chapter: Peter can't shake a smokey smell, a new face is introduced at ESU, and Happy's back? 
> 
> Also, the title of this chapter is in no way based off the 1983 film, so don't go looking to that movie for plot points, just in case anyone was wondering.

"Okay, that seems to be everyone. Thanks Spidey!" said the fireman. 

"No, thank you," Peter replied, giving a salute. "You guys are the real heroes. Anyway, I have somewhere I have to be; til next time!" Honestly, Peter really hoped "next time" was a long way from now, and ideally not right before he had to be at school. However, he had managed to save at least a dozen lives, evacuating them before the fire consumed the apartment complex. The bad news, however, was that he now wreaked of flame and smoke, and on top of that, he was late for school. As he swung towards Midtown Tech, he thought through what few options he had. 1st period was the only one of the day where no class would be using the gym, so he could try and sneak in a quick shower. However, that would look really conspicuous, since he didn't have gym class until after lunch. Would it be any worse than his current predicament though? 

In the end, he opted against the shower, instead putting on as much deodorant as possible. He made up his mind that if anyone asked, he would say that he had an accident in the kitchen this morning and didn't have to time to change before leaving for school. It would track with his usual Parker luck at least. He found an alley next to campus, and tried his best to change out of his Spider-Man outfit as quickly as possible. This was no easy task, as his suit had practically become one with his skin due to the flames. Finally, he managed to get it off, apply lots of deodorant and put his regular clothes on. He had already missed most of first period, so he decided to spend the remainder of it trying to wash some of the smoke off his face. He entered the bathroom, put the water on the coldest he could, and proceeded to splash it on his face several times. He had to admit, the cool liquid felt very refreshing against his still very hot face. Even despite the freezing February weather, he had had to turn his suit's heater down on the way there, the fire having provided enough warmth for what felt like a lifetime. 

The bell rang, signifying the end of first period. Peter took one last look in the mirror, deciding that he was satisfied enough with how clean he had managed to get his face. As he dried it off, he felt a presence next to him. It was nothing that would set off his spider-sense, but he could still sense the tension in the air when he glanced over to see none other than Flash Thompson, who was looking at him like he had grown a third eye in the middle of his head. 

"Geez Parker, what happened to you?" Flash asked, his face still very confused. 

"Had an accident in the kitchen this morning," Peter replied. "Took forever to get it under control." 

"Maybe you should let your aunt do the cooking next time," Flash retorted. 

Peter smirked. "Actually, seeing as she's where I got my cooking skills from, I'm not sure that would be too much better," he said with a mild chuckle. Wow, was he actually having an interaction with Flash where the guy wasn't completely berating or humiliating him? 

"Well, I would say you should get some hired help, but we all know you can't afford it." There it was: the social status jab. Still, it was progress, so Peter decided to be satisfied with the interaction, giving Flash a nod before exiting the bathroom. 

"Peter, why do you smell like smoke?" Betty asked as she sat down at their usual lunch table. It was the first time Peter had seen her today and he had hoped the smell would go away by the time the only person in his inner circle who didn't know his identity met him. Maybe next time he should just apply the whole stick of deodorant. No, on second thought, that would probably be just as noticeable. 

"Accident in the kitchen this morning," Peter said for the 4th time in the last few hours. "It took forever to finally get under control."

"Wow; it must've been pretty bad," Betty replied. Good, his answer must've been satisfactory. Peter breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"For once, I feel like I should apologize," M.J. suddenly interjected, taking a bite of her vegetarian sandwich. 

"For what?" Peter asked, a little confused. 

"I think while my mom and I were living there, she spoiled you guys by cooking a lot," M.J. replied after swallowing her bite of the sandwich. "I think you and May are probably a little rusty." 

"Your mom can certainly cook, I'll give you that," Peter replied. He had to admit, he had been really spoiled over the last month and a half or so, and not just when it came to food. Having M.J. and her mom stay at his and May's apartment had been great all the way around. He and M.J. had never been closer, plus May and Alexandra had become friends as well. It also seemed therapeutic for M.J. and her mom; they had taken some small steps towards rebuilding their relationship. However, they finally found another apartment and had moved out the weekend prior. While Peter appreciated having his bed and room back, he had to admit he missed M.J. just being down the hall. 

"Oh, by the way," Ned suddenly spoke up, "what torture did M.J. end up subjecting you to under the guise of a date after she won your all's bet on the Chemistry test?" 

Peter couldn't help but notice M.J. give Ned a short glare before she explained. "We went on a little adventure around the city looking for the best street art and graffiti we could find," she said, her head held high like she was proud of the creativity of her idea. 

"That sounds fun; maybe we should do that sometime, babe," Betty chimed in, giving Ned a playful nudge in the side with her elbow. Peter fought back a chuckle as Ned squirmed a little at the idea, but still allowed a slight smirk to show on his face. He had to admit though, what he expected to be a wild goose chase of a date had turned out to be a lot of fun, and he had enjoyed listening to M.J. rant about the various qualities of the art they found as well as the hidden meanings a lot of them had. 

"Well, I know this for sure; NOTHING can top the Valentine's Day date I have planned for us, right baby?" Ned said. 

Peter had to fight back a gag reflex upon hearing Ned refer to Betty as "baby," almost spitting out his food in the process. All these months and he STILL couldn't get used to it. Hearing Betty use a term like that was one thing, but Ned...ugh. Peter really, really hoped he and M.J. never became like that. In fact, he was quite certain it would never happen, as she had threatened to smack him if he ever called her one of those names, and his response had been "please do!" 

"That's right!" Betty exclaimed, bringing Peter's mind back to the present. "Ned's taking us on a ferry ride, then we're going to watch the sunset in Central Park!" 

"Well then, you all enjoy your stereotypical celebration of a day that has the audacity to commercialize 'love'," M.J. retorted back at them, and Peter couldn't help but shake his head and smile. Leave it to M.J. to rail against something that so many people just accepted as the status quo. 

"Oh come on, M.J," Betty whined. "I'm sure you and Peter will be doing something for Valentine's, right?" 

M.J. looked at Peter before responding, and it didn't go unnoticed that she offered him the faintest smile, which sent his stomach into a tailspin. 

"Well, Peter actually hasn't told me what he has planned yet," M.J. admitted. 

"Oh, full of secrecy are we?" Betty said, giving Peter a little look that for some reason sent a bit of a shiver down his spine. He had no reason to think she didn't believe his excuse from earlier, but he had been having to utilize them a lot more recently as the four of them hung out more and more. Ned and M.J. seemed to share in the tension as well, as both of their faces had gone rigid. 

"I'm just messing with you," Betty said. "You all don't have to be so serious all of a sudden!" 

Had Peter just over analyzed her teasing? Had all three of them? Shaking his mind out of its state of mini panic, Peter promptly returned to the topic of conversation. 

"Oh don't worry, I've got something really great planned," Peter said with as much confidence as he could muster, which warranted an inquisitive look from his girlfriend. She didn't say anything though, only keeping her eyebrow raised with a light smile on her face momentarily before turning back to finish her sandwich, but it was enough to make his heart stop for a moment. Would these types of occurrences ever stop?

Honestly, he really hoped not. 

Later that day, Peter walked into the ESU lab, noticing Dr. Connors discussing something with a gentleman in what looked like a repairman or electrician's outfit. 

"Ah, Peter, come on in," the doc said, gesturing with his good arm for Peter to come over. "This is Max Dillon; I've contracted him to help maintain the lab's equipment. Max, this is my lab assistant, Peter Parker." 

Peter extended his hand towards Max, who took it and gave a good, confident shake. Max was a decently tall man, but slender, and with brown hair that hung down a little all around his head. "Nice to meet you Peter; the doc here was just telling me all about you," Max said, offering a smile. 

"Probably how I'm the reason he had to hire you in the first place," Peter teased. 

"Ah, there's that quick wit you were talking about," Max said, eyeing Connors and pointing a finger in Peter's direction. He then turned his focus to Peter once more. "Son, don't let that wit disappear." 

"Yes sir," Peter said, giving a bit of an awkward salute. Max then excused himself, exiting out the door. 

"Sorry about that; Max has quite the personality," Dr. Connors said, turning and walking towards the vegetation section of the lab. 

"He seems like a cool guy," Peter interjected as they approached the doc's latest work. "So, how's it going with fixing the problem we encountered?" 

"Making some headway," Dr. Connors answered, but Peter could tell by the man's body language and facial expression that it wasn't coming alone quite as fast as he would've hoped. He and the doc both had spent hours brainstorming and tossing around various theories regarding how to make the plants viable no matter their environment while also maintaining the integrity of their fruit, but nothing had panned out so far. Peter tried to maintain an upbeat attitude about the whole thing though, hoping to encourage the doc and help convince him that it was going to work out. If he was being honest, he was trying to convince himself as well. 

"Don't worry doc, it'll come to us," Peter said, trying to reassure the man. 

"I know," the doc replied. "No great discovery or breakthrough was ever made without some serious trial and error along the way." The doc then signaled for Peter to follow him once more, and they came upon some new seeds that had recently been brought in. "I need you to check on these throughout the next couple of weeks. Each of these seeds contains a different type of steroid enhancement that might help get this process off the ground." 

"Will do, doc," Peter answered. Connors then gave specific instructions in terms of how to plant each one, how to regulate the environment they were in, etc. After running his basic check of all the equipment, Peter spent the better part of the afternoon helping plant the new seeds and getting the simulated environment set up. 

"Well, I guess now we wait and see," Connors said. "Thanks again for all your help, Peter. I couldn't ask for a better partner." 

Wow. Partner. Deep down, Peter knew the doc didn't just consider him an assistant, but hearing that word still caught him off guard a little. He allowed himself a smile, knowing that he must've done at least something right to be viewed this way in the eyes of one of the greatest scientific minds in the world. 

"Thanks doc, I...I can't tell you how much I've appreciated this opportunity," Peter managed to get out. They finished up their work in the lab for the night. 

With his suit he had been wearing earlier almost completely trashed by the fire, Peter decided to run back to the apartment and get his spare suit before heading out on patrol. Aside from the smell and general look of it, the last thing he wanted to deal with was getting it on and off again in the condition it was in. He made a mental note to himself to look into implementing some kind of material into his costume that was at least somewhat fire resistant, not to mention maybe come up with a better plan for getting cleaned up in a pinch. 

He approached his apartment door, pulling out his key and unlocking the door. 

"Hey May," he said as he entered, fully expecting it to just be his aunt in the place. "Sorry if I still smell bad by the way, I had to deal with a fire this mor..."

Peter stopped in his tracks as he saw not just May in the kitchen, but none other than Happy Hogan, standing by the counter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter stood in silence for a moment, before feeling as though he were forgetting his manners. 
> 
> "Happy," Peter said, smiling. He was trying his best to give off a pleasant sounding tone. It's just that this was one of the last people he expected to see in his apartment. 
> 
> "Hey, kid," Happy replied, his expression a bit...nervous, maybe? Peter honestly wasn't sure. Suddenly, a thought as to a potential reason for the man's visit came to mind, and Peter's expression shifted to a more nervous, almost panicked look.
> 
> "Is...did something happen to Morgan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Happy at the apartment and Peter has multiple college talks.

Peter stood in silence for a moment, before feeling as though he were forgetting his manners. 

"Happy," Peter said, smiling. He was trying his best to give off a pleasant sounding tone. It's just that this was one of the last people he expected to see in his apartment. 

"Hey, kid," Happy replied, his expression a bit...nervous, maybe? Peter honestly wasn't sure. Suddenly, a thought as to a potential reason for the man's visit came to mind, and Peter's expression shifted to a more nervous, almost panicked look.

"Is...did something happen to Morgan? Are her and Pepper okay?" Peter asked, really hoping this sudden theory was wrong. 

"No Peter," Happy replied, shaking his head and letting out a small, awkward sounding breath, "Pepper and Morgan are just fine, though I hear the latter keeps wondering when your next visit will be." 

"Okay, good," Peter said, letting out a sigh of relief. He was glad that thought was dealt with, though now he was back to where he started. 

"So, what are you doing here?" Peter said. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how inhospitable he was being, and tried to walk it back. "I mean, of course, you're always welcome and everything," he said, nervously laughing in an embarrassed manner at each new word. 

"I get it, kid," Happy said, his voice solemn. "I just...I just wanted to talk, I guess." 

"Oh...okay," Peter said, unsure of what exactly to do with that information. 

"It is getting late though," Happy said, looking down at his watch. "I better be going." The man turned to May, but Peter heard no words leave his mouth, only noticing a slight nod in her direction. For her part, May did the same. 

"Please, don't feel like you have to leave because of me," Peter said. He wasn't sure if he was the cause of the awkward tension in the room or not, but he felt a little guilty at the man's sudden need to leave less than two minutes after his own arrival. 

"No really, I should be getting home," Happy said, moving quickly past Peter. The man opened the door, gave one last look in Peter's direction first, then May's, then promptly shut it. 

Peter slowly walked to the door, locking it properly, though he barely registered his own movements as he tried to process what on earth just happened. 

"Why was he here, May?" Peter said as he turned to his aunt, a thought growing in his mind. 

"Like he said, he just wanted to talk," May said, wiping down the counter. Peter walked over to it, taking a seat on a stool. 

"What did he want to talk about?" Peter asked, searching to find something in his aunt's eyes, which were currently staring down at the counter. 

"Nothing important," she said sharply, looking up at him quickly. He almost jumped in his seat at her intense expression hit him. 

"I'm sorry," Peter said, feeling guilty for prying. 

"No, I'm sorry Peter," May said, returning to wiping the counter some more. "I just...I'm not in a place where I want to discuss it right now." 

"Of course," Peter replied. He wasn't surprised; after Peter had had his little sit down with the two of them back in the summer, he had come back to learn from May that apparently they had "mutually agreed" that it was best to end things in a romantic sense. She insisted that what she had said earlier would hold true, that her and Happy would "always be friends, no matter what." However, in the months since that day, Happy had not been over until tonight, and Peter had only seen him a couple of times. They had met up when Peter needed to get something off his chest as the two of them had been grieving over Tony, but even that had been a while. He had honestly wanted to reach out to Happy again, but he was nervous about how the man would receive such an invitation once the guise or collective mourning was gone. 

He got the feeling that May was holding something back from him about their conversation, but he wasn't about to press the matter. The way he figured, his aunt's love life was none of his business, unless she allowed it to be. 

"So," May said, putting her towel up as she clearly tried to change the subject. "Valentine's Day is in a week. You got something planned for M.J?" 

"I have a couple ideas, yeah," Peter said, smiling a little proudly. 

"Well?" May asked, leaning eagerly against the counter like a giddy school girl waiting to hear a juicy rumor. 

"Sorry; no comment at press time," Peter replied, giving a bit of a smug look. May gave him a playful scowl in return. 

"Fine," she said leaving the kitchen area. "Let's talk about something else then," she replied, and Peter noticed she had some papers in her hand when she came back. She stepped back into her spot on the other side of the counter, throwing down the papers in front of him. He wasn't surprised when he quickly observed they were letters from several different colleges. 

"Decisions, Peter," May said, giving him a pointed look. 

"Don't worry May," Peter said, trying to reassure her. "I actually have been doing some thinking about this." 

"Oh yeah? Care to share whether your inclined to stay close to your old, lonely aunt or not?" she asked, giving him what appeared to be her most pitiful expression possible. 

"May..." Peter moaned. 

"I'm just kidding, Peter," she said. He knew that was true, but he had to admit, the thought of staying close to the only family he had left certainly had been a contributing factor in his mind.

"I want you to go wherever you want to go," she said, clearly reading his mind through his silence as she always did. "Seriously though, any thoughts?" 

It wasn't like Peter was hurting for possibilities. He had received stuff from local colleges, such as Empire State University, all the way up the most prestigious universities out there, such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and MIT. Tony had once mentioned something about having some pull at MIT, but he didn't want to go somewhere just on one person's recommendation, even if that one person was Tony Stark. 

"I've actually been looking into ESU, actually," he said. 

"That's cool," May said happily. Peter then noticed her expression turned more serious and thoughtful. "Peter, seriously, I don't want you to feel tied down to New York because of me," she said, squeezing his hand with her own. "I want you to make this decision because it's what you feel is best for yourself, not just 'cause I'm here, or because M.J. and your friends want to stay here." 

That was one thing that had been on Peter's mind the last few months: M.J.'s college decision. They had talked casually about it before, but he could never get a real read on what she was thinking in that area. He knew she wanted to find some way to utilize her knack for chemistry in a way that was useful to the world, but that could happen anywhere. 

"I don't know where M.J.'s going to school, so this isn't about her," he tried to assure his aunt. 

"Okay," May said, giving him a look that made him feel he should continue. 

"May, New York...it's my home," he said. "Not just because of you, but I've built a lot of connections here, with Pepper and Morgan, working with Dr. Connors...I just feel like I still have plenty of time left here. That's why I've been looking into ESU really heavily." 

The almost relieved look on May's face didn't escape Peter's attention. He knew she would truly support whatever decision he made, but staying together was something that he knew both of them wanted. 

"Nothing would make me happier," she said. "Plus, I'd really be missing your help over at the community center."

Peter let out a small laugh at that. "I'll bet," he replied. 

The two of them then settled into some small talk for a while before he headed to his room to finish his homework. However, he found himself having trouble focusing, his mind returning to a thought from earlier: what was M.J.'s college decision going to be, or Ned's for that matter? He realized how little he had been preparing himself for what could happen in the next 6 months or so, as all his friends could go off to anywhere in the U.S, or even the world, as they continued their education. An increasing worry began to grow in his mind, and he only barely managed to get his homework done at a decent hour as a result. 

As he laid in bed, he found sleep difficult, as his mind wouldn't settle down enough to allow it to come to him. The hardest part was that he knew it would be wrong of him to do anything to try and manipulate any of their decisions, especially M.J.'s. Their decisions needed to be exactly that: THEIR decisions. He made up his mind to bring the matter up to them at school the next day, and he finally managed to drift off to sleep shortly after that. 

Peter opened his locker and began gathering his books needed for the day, still thinking about last night's subject matter, when he felt a presence next to him that shook him out of his thoughts. He looked past his locker to see M.J. standing there. She looked a little anxious, and Peter could hear her heart beating rapidly. He was about to ask her if she was okay, but she spoke up first. 

"Peter, there's something I need to talk to you about," she announced. She was doing the thing where she would try and maintain her stoic, I don't care about anything facade to hide a mountain of worry beneath, and it made his heart beat faster. 

"Okay," Peter said, trying to sound at least somewhat casual. "What's up?" 

"Well, my mom was prompting me to talk about my education after high school last night..."

"May did the same thing to me as well," Peter said, taking advantage of her hesitation. "I was actually meaning to talk to you about that today, actually." 

"Oh," she said. Peter was about to say something else, but M.J. spoke up again: "Look, Peter, I just want you to know that if you want to go away somewhere, or whatever, that's completely fine. We can figure it out, you know? Right? I mean, people do long distance all the time. Sure, it doesn't work for just anybody, but you and I aren't just anybody, after all. I mean..." 

Peter couldn't help himself as he let out a small series of chuckles. He had to admit, he found his girlfriend's uncharacteristic rambling REALLY amusing, but he could tell where the conversation was going, so he decided to stop her. 

"M.J, I'm planning on going to ESU," he said, offering her a smile. 

"Oh," she said, and the look of relief on her face was almost instantaneous. She gave him a smile as she added, "Me too." 

"That's great!" he exclaimed. They then spent the last few minutes discussing what exactly they would be going there for, with Peter wanting to get a degree in biophysics and M.J. doing a double major in Chemistry in Criminal Justice. M.J. said she recently decided she wanted to be a CSI, which made so much sense to him. It would be the perfect way for her to use her chemistry know how and her love for crime mysteries. 

The 1st bell rang, indicating that classes would be starting in a few minutes. Peter started walking with M.J. towards their 1st period chemistry class, but stopped just short of the door, grabbing her arm to get her attention. 

"M.J, just so you know, I also believed that if we had to do the long distance thing, we would find a way to make it work. I'll always believe in us." 

She looked away for a moment before looking back at him with the biggest smile on her face, and Peter suddenly couldn't even think, as his brain had pretty much shut down at this sight. M.J. then turned and walked into class, and his brain finally rebooted after a moment to tell him he should too, so he did. 

Peter had a class with Ned during 3rd period, so he made sure to get there early, hoping to ask his best friend what his thoughts were on college. He had thought about just bringing it up at lunch, but decided against it when he pondered further and realized he and Betty might not be going to the same school. The last thing he wanted was to be the cause of some awkward tension at the lunch table. 

"Hey man," Peter said before he even sat down at his usual seat next to his best friend, "can I ask you a question?" 

"Sure," Ned said, looking just a little concerned. 

"What are your thoughts on college?" Peter asked as he sat down in his desk. "May and I were talking about it last night, and I realized you and I hadn't even brought it up once this year." 

"I..." Ned couldn't quite seem to find the words, and Peter felt like he was dangling in the air, waiting for something to bring him down. "I haven't decided yet, honestly. I'm waiting to hear back from a few places." 

"Oh, cool," Peter replied, but he still wanted to know more. "What places are you looking at, man? As smart as you are, I'm sure you have all kinds of places looking at you!" 

"A few," Ned responded. "I...I guess I'm just trying to enjoy this year as long as possible before I really have to start thinking about that stuff." 

"Makes sense I guess," Peter said. He wasn't sure if his best friend actually had an idea of where he wanted to go and just didn't want to tell him, or if he honestly wasn't sure yet. Either way, Peter could tell he clearly didn't want to discuss it for some reason, so he elected to drop the subject just in time for class to begin. 

He knew that whenever Ned had made a decision and was ready to tell him, he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Thanks to those who left kudos, a comment, or a subscription in the first chapter. An author practically lives off the support of their work, so thank you all very much :) 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone! 
> 
> "One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back..." Luke 17: 11-19


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few minutes of mostly silence, Max spoke up: "Well, as thrilling as this all is, I think some good conversation might help the time pass by a little easier," he said, not taking his eyes off his work. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself, Peter." 
> 
> "Sorry," Peter replied. He was grateful the man couldn't see how bashful he looked due to how rude he felt. "I know this is dangerous stuff, so I didn't want to interrupt your concentration." 
> 
> "Okay, so you apologize too much," Max said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Max and Peter get to know each other, Peter stops a crime and obtains an unexpected reward, and Max has a life-changing accident.

Peter showed up at the lab at his usual time later that day, but was surprised when he found that there was no light on in the building. Peter checked his phone before actually stepping in, making sure that he hadn't missed a text saying that he wasn't supposed to be there that day, but there was nothing there. His spider-sense wasn't going off, so he knew he could trust that there was no danger at least, so he opened the door and stepped in. 

"Doc?" he called out. His superhuman eyesight adjusted pretty quickly to the dark conditions so that he could see the details of the room well enough, even if it wasn't exactly like normal. 

"Over here, Peter," he heard the doc answer. He headed towards a back wall on the far left side of the building, over where the panel that controlled the power to the building was. Both the doc and and Max were there, with the doc shining a flashlight so Max could see. 

"Looks like you've got a short here, doc," Max said. "It'll take me a little while to fix it, but I should have you back up and running again before too long." 

"I appreciate this Max," the doc replied, then he turned to Peter. "Would you take my spot, Peter? I've got some work I need to do that actually doesn't specifically require electricity," he said. 

"No problem doc," Peter said. He set his backpack down against the wall before taking the flashlight from the doc, holding it wherever Max directed. 

After a few minutes of mostly silence, Max spoke up: "Well, as thrilling as this all is, I think some good conversation might help the time pass by a little easier," he said, not taking his eyes off his work. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself, Peter." 

"Sorry," Peter replied. He was grateful the man couldn't see how bashful he looked due to how rude he felt. "I know this is dangerous stuff, so I didn't want to interrupt your concentration." 

"Okay, so you apologize too much," Max said, and Peter let out a knowing chuckle. He then spent the next few minutes talking about school, what little of his future plans he actually had set, and some other miscellaneous topics. He spent the most time talking about M.J, sharing the many reasons why he liked her. 

"Wow, she must be some girl if you've spent 90% of our discussion talking about her," Max teased. 

"Sorry," Peter said, blushing a little at how he little he'd been paying attention to his own words. It was at that moment that, for the first time, Max stopped what he was doing and actually turned his head to look at Peter for the first time that afternoon. 

"Kid," he said, his usual happy expression gone in exchange for a more serious one, "if there's one thing you should never apologize for, it's talking up your girl. I'm a living example of how the right one can make all the difference in a man's life." 

"How so?" Peter asked, a little intrigued and also happy to get the conversation off himself. 

"My life was a mess for a long time," Max said as he resumed his work. He gestured for Peter to shine the flashlight in another spot before continuing: "I struggled in college and eventually flunked out. In my frustration over my failure, I turned to alcohol, and I was in a really dark place."

"So what happened?" Peter asked. He was surprised with how forward Max was being about these things, but he was becoming more and more interested too. 

"One day, I met a woman who worked at a diner I frequently ate at," Max said. "She must've finally gotten sick of listening to me mope about the sorry state of my life, because one night she looked me straight in the eyes and said, 'Well, if you're life is so terrible, what are you doing about it?' I had never had anyone pose that question to me before. Her and I talked some more, and she helped me realize I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. I went to my first AA meeting the next day, and I've been clean ever since." 

"That's great," Peter said. "Congratulations!" 

"Thanks," Max replied, a voice not as enthusiastic as Peter's a moment before. "It's been a long, hard road, but she really helped get me through it. I found out not long after that her name was Tara. For some crazy reason, she agreed to go out with me one night, and a year later we were married." 

"Wow, that's quite a story," Peter mused. "Do you have any plans to go back to school, or do you enjoy this?"

"Being an electrician has its good and bad days, just like anything else I guess," Max said. "However, I'm still hoping to go back to school one day. I had always dreamed of starting my own business; it's just taken a while for me to be motivated enough to actually put in the work to get there. I just know I wouldn't be where I am today without Tara." 

Peter and Max continued to talk for a while until Dr. Connors finally came back over. "How are we looking?" he asked. 

"Well, the problem has proven a little more complicated than I thought, but I should have you back in operation shortly," Max replied. 

"Got it; Peter, you can go home if you want," the doc added. "Even once the power comes back on, our systems are going to need some time to fully reboot, so there won't be much for you to do today, I'm afraid." 

"You sure you got it, doc?" Peter asked. He hoped he didn't come off the wrong way in his questioning, but the doc didn't seem to take offense. 

"Me and Max can handle this," he said. "You're young, Peter. Go enjoy yourself." 

In Peter's case, enjoying himself tonight turned out to be a surprisingly quiet patrol around the city. He busted a couple robberies, but not much was really happening around the city, so he allowed his mind to begin to ponder how to best go about his Valentine's Day gift for M.J. He had a couple ideas, but he really wanted to do something that was personal; that was unique to them and their relationship. He thought back to his conversation with Max, and how the man had talked so highly of his wife, constantly expressing his appreciation for her. That was what he wanted to convey to M.J; she had put up with so much in their relationship. Many times Peter had to leave outings, cancel movie nights or just disappear in general because of Spider-Man. He could see disappointment and hurt on her face every time, but she had never once complained, and he loved her to death for it. 

What kind of gift could possibly convey that? 

The other problem was that it had proved harder than he believed to find black dahlia flowers. He had been keeping an eye out, both at local stores and online, but he only seemed to find everything but what he was looking for. There were carnations, lilies, and especially roses. Peter didn't even realize how many kinds of roses there were until he actually had to shop for Valentine's Day for the first time. It was ridiculous how many there were, and of course he had to fall for the one girl in the world who absolutely did not want them, as she had repeatedly made very clear to him before. 

"Roses are too mainstream," she had said, back when they were still just barely becoming friends. "I won't be with a man who would settle for getting me roses. He needs to be more creative than that." 

While he loved how M.J. was totally against so much that society had accepted as normal, it proved to make getting her gifts very difficult. 

Peter was shaken from his thoughts when his spider-sense went off. He looked around, but there was no imminent danger to himself, so he determined it must be someone else who was in trouble. Allowing his intuitive ability to guide him, he came to a flower shop a couple blocks away. He tuned his lenses to give him a thermal image of the building, and saw saw someone being held at gunpoint while two others were cleaning out the register and safe. Peter glanced around and quickly found his trademark way of sneaking into a building: a ventilation shaft, or what he had come to call his "private ventrance." 

His every motion as quiet as possible, he eventually got to a spot where he was right above the gunman who was holding the woman who was working there hostage. Even with this good positioning, he was going to have to act fast if he was going to disarm the man before he could pull the trigger. He brought his legs up towards the rest of his body until he was as crouched as he could be without being crammed. He took a breath, then, in one lightning fast motion, he burst through the vent. With one hand he held on to the vent covering, and with the other he grabbed the gun, yanking it away quickly and crushing it. The immediate threat removed, he unstuck his feet from the shaft and came down on the man who had been holding the gun, slamming him to the ground with his hands before springing up onto the counter to face the other two. 

"Gentlemen...seriously?" he said. "Stealing from a flower shop when it's almost Valentine's Day? Where's your spirit of love?" Before the men could even react, he webbed a couple of their hands together. The two struggled to get free of their bond to each other, but it was to no avail. Peter then delivered the final blow, giving them a simple tap to their heads, watching as they collapsed to the floor, unconscious. 

"You okay?" he said to the woman as he hopped to the floor. 

"Yes," she said after a moments hesitation. "Thank you." 

"No problem," he said. "You can call the police now; I'll get the trash ready for them to pick up." Peter then brought all three of the unconscious intruders together, webbed them tightly, and carried them outside and set them down on against a streetlight. He then walked back in just to check on the lady one more time. 

"Ma'am, are you sure you're okay?" he asked as he stood across the checkout area from her. 

"I'm a little more relaxed now; thank you," she replied. Her smile and lack of shakiness that had been present earlier reassured him, so he started to take his leave. 

"Is there any way I can repay you?" she asked. He stopped about halfway to the door and turned to face her. 

"I appreciate that ma'am, but that's really not necessary," he said, waiving his hands to try and further convey that it was no big deal to him. 

"Don't you have a special woman in your life or something?" she asked. "I'll give you any pick you want of the flowers we have. It's the least I could do." 

This got Peter's attention, but he still didn't hold out much hope. "That's very generous," he replied, "but unless you have some black dahlia flowers, I'm afraid it won't do me any good." 

The woman held up a finger, indicating for him to wait, then disappeared into the back area. Peter stood there, trying not to get his hopes up. He really did appreciate this woman's efforts, but there was no way he could get THAT lucky. 

After about a minute, the woman finally emerged back out. "Here we are," she said, and sure enough, she was carrying a bouquet of no less than a dozen fresh black dahlia flowers. Peter's jaw just about dropped to the floor underneath his mask. 

"No way," he said. "You actually had some?" 

"They were the only ones I could find, so I guess it's your lucky day," she said, extending the bouquet for him to take. 

"I promise, I'm going to come back and pay you for these," Peter assured her as he took them. 

"Please, it's the least I can do," she said. "Not too many people buy these anyway. Your woman must be very special." 

"Yes she is," Peter replied. He thanked the woman one more time before exiting, actually using the front door this time. He decided to go ahead and make his way home; he needed to get the flowers in water in order to preserve them. It had been quite the stroke of luck getting them, and he wasn't about to let that kind of luck go to waste. 

"Alright, that should do it," Max said. 

"Great, so we're finally ready to turn everything on again?" Dr. Connors asked. 

"Should be," Max said. "Just give me a chance to do one final check, but we should be good." Max then took the flashlight from the doc, scanning all the wiring and everything in order to make sure he had done his job well. He knew he was already late for dinner with his wife, but he was not about to make a mistake out of haste. 

"Oh, hold on, I need to make one last little tweak in the wiring," he said, handing the flashlight back to the doc. He then moved his free hand in to put the last little finishing touches on his work. He carefully manipulated the wiring with his hands, which were protected by insulated gloves. 

"Alright, that should do it," he said. He set everything back in order, then took off his gloves and walked over and grabbed the handle to the lever which would turn the power back on. 

"Let's light this place up again," Max said, and threw the lever. 

The next thing he knew, hundred of volts of electricity were surging through his body. He cried out in pain, as his body was seared. He finally was blasted away, landing hard on the floor. His body still shook uncontrollably as electricity continued to surge through his body. 

"Must've...made a...mistake," he managed to say before darkness overtook him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked it! I fully admit to not knowing anything about electrician work, so please forgive that. 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone! 
> 
> "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Matthew 22:34-40


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sure enough, emergency first responders arrived on the scene not long after, but none of them could pick up Max at first. The crew eventually got out gloves and other insulated materials to pick up Max, but they quickly found they couldn't put him in the back of the vehicle either, as he quickly electrified the metal there as he got near it. The response crew set him back down, managing to find that he did have a pulse, but he was becoming more and more unstable by the second. 
> 
> With no apparent options, Connors did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed his phone back, found Peter's number, and dialed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Dr. Connors gets Peter's help in helping Max, and a certain big and green Avengers makes a guest appearance.

As soon as Max went into unconsciousness, Dr. Connors immediately pulled out his phone and dialed 911. After one ring, there was an answer: 

"911, what's your emergency?" came the worker's response. 

"I need someone at the research center at Empire State University now; a man was electrocuted and he has passed out!" Connors said frantically. 

"On it; does the man still have a pulse?" the emergency services person asked. 

"Hold on a moment," Connors said. He put his phone on speaker and set it down before reaching to feel for a pulse. He was still an inch away from Max's skin when a blue bolt of electricity sent a painful shock up Connors' arm. 

"Ah!" he said, jerking his hand away. 

"Sir?" the responder said. 

"I can't tell; he's still electrified," the doc clarified. "I can't touch him to see if he has a pulse or not." 

"Understood; I'll relay that to the unit who's on the way," the responder said. "Don't worry sir, they should be there in less than two minutes."

Sure enough, emergency first responders arrived on the scene not long after, but none of them could pick up Max at first. The crew eventually got out gloves and other insulated materials to pick up Max, but they quickly found they couldn't put him in the back of the vehicle either, as he quickly electrified the metal there as he got near it. The response crew set him back down, managing to find that he did have a pulse, but he was becoming more and more unstable by the second. 

With no apparent options, Connors did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed his phone back, found Peter's number, and dialed it.

After putting the flowers he acquired in a watered vase, Peter had decided to tackle his homework. He was about halfway through when he saw the good doc was calling him. He had no idea why Connors would be calling this late, and his mind immediately began running through potential negative possibilities even as he answered the call. 

"Hey doc, what's going on?" Peter answered. 

"Peter, I need you here; well, not you you, but the "other" you," Connors clarified. He seemed to be speaking in a bit of a hushed voice, so there must've been other people there. 

"Something wrong?" Peter asked, already out of his seat to get his Spider-Man suit. 

"We had an accident, and something's happened to Max," Connors said. "He got electrocuted, but his whole body is still electrified, and the first responders can't move him. I have a feeling this is going to need your connections." 

"I understand; Be there in 5 minutes," Peter said. He hung up and slipped his mask on to complete his change into Spider-Man. He dived out the window, immediately firing a web in the direction of the lab. Within minutes, he was on site. Max was lying on the ground, with 3 emergency response people around him. He released his web and landed steadily next to the crew. 

"We can't move him; his body seems almost like it's generating an electrical field that makes it impossible for us to transport him," one of the crew explained. 

Peter stepped aside for a moment, tapping the side of his mask and dialing the best number he could think of in this situation. 

"Dr. Cho, it's Spider-Man. I need your help. Can you have the lab ready in 10 minutes?" 

"Yes, but what is it?" Dr. Cho asked. 

"I'll explain on the way, but know that you're going to need to put the individual I'm going to bring you in a heavily insulated environment. Absolutely no metals," Peter clarified. 

"I'll see what I can do," she said. 

"Alright, I'll call you back in a second." Peter hung up, then went to work. Heavily wrapping both of his hands in webbing, but leaving just enough space for his webs to still shoot out, he set Max up with one hand and webbed him in a tight cocoon with the other one. 

"Thanks for your help guys, but I got this from here," Peter said. He picked up Max and tucked him under one of his arms, and immediately began swinging towards the Avengers facility. 

By the time Peter arrived, the electricity emanating from Max had already melted through all but the outermost layer of webbing. Dr. Cho took him into a specialized room that could handle the electricity coming from his body. Peter followed the doc until he had to stop just outside the room, and watched as Cho and a few others did their work. As he was waiting, Peter was greeted by a very large guest. 

"Hey kid," came the very tall, very green form of Bruce Banner. 

"Hey Dr. Banner," Peter said, looking up from his seat. By now he had removed his mask, since everyone who worked there knew all about the Avengers anyway. Even if that wasn't the case, that didn't matter in this instance, as Bruce already was in on the secret, and he was the only one there at the moment. Peter hadn't seen him too much since Tony's death; Bruce had reached out to him to see how he was doing, and eventually Peter decided to come visit. Bruce even let him help out a little with some stuff in the lab. 

"Peter, please, I've already told you to call me Bruce," the now gentle giant explained. 

"Sorry," Peter said. "How've you been?" 

"Fine; I was in my lab when I heard about your little delivery for us," Bruce said, turning his attention to the room where Max was being observed. 

"Yeah, Dr. Connors called me; apparently Max got electrocuted, but for some reason he's still generating a ton of energy," Peter explained, standing up and joining Bruce by the window. 

"I meant to tell you congratulations on that by the way; scoring a job working under someone like Curtis Connors is no small feat," Bruce said. Peter could see genuine happiness, and even something resembling pride, in Bruce's eyes. 

"Thanks," was all Peter could say before turning his eyes back towards what was happening in the room. He was truly grateful to have the job, but he really wished he and Connors both could actually just have some good luck for a change. First the Lizard, then the lack of real fruit (no pun intended, obviously) in their new work, and now this. It just seemed that, no matter where he went or what he did, the dreaded Parker luck always found a way to rear its ugly head. 

After a moment of silence, Bruce spoke up again.

"Want to get some coffee while we wait or something? It'll probably be a little bit before they figure anything out." 

"I don't know," Peter said hesitantly. "I really feel like I should stay until something is figured out." 

Peter then felt a large hand resting on his shoulder, and he turned and met Bruce's eyes. 

"Kid, I can't even fit the whole world on my shoulders, so you certainly can't," Bruce said. "Come on." 

Peter gave in, and he called into the room via intercom to say where he was going and to let him know as soon as they figure something out. He then followed Bruce the short walk into a small cafe area within the rebuilt compound. 

"How do you like your coffee?" Bruce asked. 

"Just with a little sugar," Peter said. After a minute, Bruce gently handed him a small cup of coffee. Even though he had seen it before, Peter was impressed with how well Bruce was able to handle something so delicate as a small cup with his huge hands. He also noticed the scarring on Bruce's right arm from the snapping of the gauntlet. 

"How is that, by the way?" Peter said, gesturing to the arm. 

"Well, it won't ever be as useful as it once was, but I have a decent amount of mobility with it," Bruce said, moving it around some to demonstrate his point. 

"I always thought that was really brave, what you did," Peter said as he took a sip of coffee. 

"So was what you did," Bruce said. 

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, lowering his drink. 

"You were part of the chain that kept the gauntlet away from Thanos," Bruce clarified. "You had a lot of his forces gunning for you as a result. Even with the armor you were wearing, that was still very risky." 

Peter shrugged. "Just doing what I could, I guess," he said. In light of everything that happened that day, most of all with Tony, Peter felt like such a tiny piece in that battle that raged all around him. He still had nightmares from time to time of blasts being rained down all around him, and the crippling fear of imminent death that took over him as he tucked the gauntlet to himself. Bruce must have sensed Peter's uneasiness as he changed the subject. 

"So how's school going? You're a senior, right?" Bruce asked. 

"Yeah; it's going pretty well," Peter said. "Hoping to have a shot at Valedictorian, actually." Peter hoped he didn't sound too prideful in that moment, but he had to admit, the honor was something he really, really wanted. 

"That's great," Bruce said. "Who's your competition for it?" 

"Mainly M.J," Peter said. 

"Well that makes things interesting," Bruce said, finally taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah," Peter said, letting out a little laugh before taking a quick drink of his own. "We've actually had some competitions recently where we bet some stuff over test scores." 

"I always knew there was a reason I liked her," Bruce said. He had never met M.J, but Peter had spoken about her a fair amount during the few times they met up. "You hold onto that one," Bruce said, taking a couple steps towards Peter, looking him right in the eyes. "Any woman who not only puts up with, but actually competes against guys like you and me in the sciences...that is a rare woman, my friend." 

"She sure is that," Peter said, smiling. He and Bruce continued some light talking for another half hour or so before Dr. Cho walked in. 

"How is he?" Peter asked. The look on Dr. Cho's face wasn't exactly giving him a relaxing feeling either. 

"Well, that's complicated," she said. Peter didn't respond, trying to give her a look that prompted her to continue, which she did. 

"He's alive at least, but his body...it's generating it's own electricity now. I've never seen anything like it." 

"Is...is his condition permanent?" Peter asked, a little afraid of the answer he might receive. 

"Honestly, I don't know; it's too early to tell," Dr. Cho said. "I'm going to keep him here for observation. Does he have any family?" 

"He talked earlier about a wife," Peter said. 

"She needs to be informed," Dr. Cho said. 

"I'll call Dr. Connors; he'll probably have a way to get a hold of her," Peter answered. 

"Alright. It was good that you brought him in as soon as you did," she said. "No hospital would've been able to do anything for him."

"Thanks doc," Peter said. 

"You better go home and get some rest," Bruce spoke up. "The good doctor and I will keep an eye on him and we'll update you if anything happens." 

"Alright; first let me call Dr. Connors and see if I can get the contact information for Max's wife," Peter said, and the others nodded. He called the doc, updated him on what happened, and managed to get the information he needed from him. He gave it to Dr. Cho, and Bruce offered to walk him out. 

When they reached the entrance, Bruce spoke up. 

"Peter, listen...you know you're always welcome here, right?" 

"Yeah," Peter said. "I just...I still have a hard time with a lot of the memories here." 

"I understand," Bruce said. "I just wanted you to know that." 

"Thanks," Peter said. He gave Bruce a fist bump, and it felt good to purposefully implement a little of his superhuman strength into it, since he knew Bruce could handle it. He then scrambled to the top of the building, firing two webs at a couple poles. Pulling back at far as he could, he became a human sling shot as he released the webs, rocketing back in the direction of the city. He still had to swing through a little bit of woods, which was honestly a nice change of pace from the city, but before long, he was back in the concrete jungle of Manhattan. 

As he made his way home, a thought crept into his mind: what if Max had made a mistake in his repairs because the two of them had been talking. Had he distracted him, and caused whatever was happening? 

Peter tried to expel the thought; Max had kept his eyes trained on his work almost the whole time, so it couldn't have been that. 

Still, even as he finished his homework and went to bed, the thought continued to plague his mind as Peter struggled to sleep through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled in figuring this chapter out, but fitting Bruce in there felt like it worked pretty well. What do you guys think? 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone! 
> 
> "But Jesus called the children to him and said..." Luke 18:15-17


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max's eyes shot open all of a sudden, and he sat up quickly. He tried to take a moment to gather himself, but his senses were all out of wack. He was unable to smell anything, his ears had a constant sound like the static on a TV screen going through them, and his vision was...blurred? No, that wasn't the word. Distorted might be more appropriate. It was almost like he could see through the building. He saw streams going through the building, like maybe the power going through it? He couldn't tell; he put his hands to his face, but found he couldn't even feel much of anything. 
> 
> "Where am I!?" he shouted. "Hello!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: M.J. tries to get Peter's mind off of his usual worries, and Max wakes up to a terrifying new reality.

Peter shuffled into school the next morning, having hardly slept the night before. Thanks goodness it was Friday; he just needed to get through the day and he'd be home free. Dr. Connors has already texted him that morning to let him know that he was having the lab's power source examined and worked on, so Peter would have the evening off as well. Even so, he couldn't find it in him to celebrate this extra bit of free time, because he just couldn't get the cause of it out of his head. He had called Dr. Cho on the way to school, but she didn't have any new updates for him, other than Max's wife had shown up and had passed along a thank you to him. He really hoped he heard something by the end of the day; maybe if he knew Max was going to turn out alright, his mind would let him relax. 

"What's on your mind?" 

Peter was so lost in thought that only his ever present spider-sense prevented him from jumping at the sudden sound of M.J.'s voice. 

"What makes you think I've got something on my mind?" he asked, turning to face her as he closed his locker, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. 

"Your body looks like it's carrying the weight of the world on it," M.J. said, her dry wit still evident even as concern shown in her voice. "I don't see anything other than your backpack though, so the logical deduction would be that it's in your head."

"Aren't you so smart," Peter asked sarcastically, flashing a smile at her. 

"I know," M.J. said, her head held high and her expression the poster for nonchalant, before she allowed her lips to form into a smile. 

Peter then told her everything about what happened with Max. "I just can't help but wonder," he said, looking away from her for a moment before meeting her gaze again, "if I hadn't been talking to him so much, maybe he wouldn't be where he is now." 

"Peter, that's a ridiculous thing to think," M.J. stated. "From what you said, it sounded like he did a lot of the talking too. It sounds like he wanted to talk." 

"I know, M.J," Peter said as they started walking to class at the sound of the warning bell. "I just..."

"It's just that what happened happened, right?" she answered for him. 

"Well, yeah," he responded. 

"Look, I know that you're going to keep sulking about this in spite of whatever wonderful advice I give you," M.J. said, Peter answering her knowing look with one of his own, "but why don't you let me distract you for the afternoon?" 

"What did you have in mind?" Peter asked. 

"Oh, just hang out in the city," M.J. said casually. "I'm sure I can come up with some obscure facts about at least ONE place we come across."

"Sure, why not?" Peter said. If he had found there was one thing in life that could distract him from almost anything, it was being in the presence of one Michelle Jones. 

Of course, one random piece of trivia turned into 10, and that was just after going by the Empire State building. For a couple hours, Peter just let M.J. lead him around from place to place, listening as she shared any little bit of random knowledge she had about said places. He knew he wasn't going to remember all of the things that came out of her mouth, but he had found that just listening to her voice often was soothing to him. It's like her voice traveled through his ears and into his entire being, relaxing every stressed muscle and pushing aside every stray thought along the way. 

Well, most of them at least. Every once in a while, Peter's mind would still wonder back to Max Dillon. He was determined not to bug Dr. Cho, but not getting an update was still making him a little antsy. The other thing that was bothering him was that he knew Dr. Connors was stressed out by this too. Even in the short time they talked last night, both during the situation as well as when updates were shared, Peter cold hear the anxiety and despair in his boss's voice. Connors really wanted to do something good for the world, but had seen numerous setbacks that, worse yet, had put people's lives in danger as a result. Feeling like this latest setback was on him only made Peter feel even worse. 

Man, having the world's largest guilt complex was absolutely NO FUN! 

"Well, is there anywhere else you want to go see?" M.J. asked, snapping Peter's attention back to reality. He took a moment and thought, looking up towards the sky. The cold February air blew across his chin, but he didn't really mind. He had gotten used to it from spending his whole life there. He kept thinking, then he finally got an idea. 

"Actually, yes," he said. "It's somewhere you've never been before too." 

"I do like a good mystery," M.J. replied, tapping her fingers from both hands against each other in mock suspense. 

"It's not too far from here," he said, and started walking to lead the way. Before too long, they finally came upon a cemetery. Peter didn't need to look around to find his particular destination; he had been there several times before. After a couple minutes, they arrived to a headstone that read the following: 

"Ben Parker: Beloved Husband and Uncle

"I realized that I had never brought you here before," Peter said, his eyes still looking at his late uncle's headstone. "I thought it was finally time you saw it." 

M.J, who had been standing a few feet back at first, stepped up until she was right to Peter's right side. "He must've been really great from all you've told me," she said. 

"I can't even begin to do him justice," Peter admitted. "He and May never had much, but they always got by. He even told me once that he was offered a job for a major company that paid 4 times what he was making at the time, but he turned it down." 

"Why?" M.J. asked. 

"Because he felt that their business practices weren't anything he wanted to be associated with," Peter explained. "They had a reputation for doing whatever they needed to do in order to do business and for not treating their employees well." Peter's eyes started to well up. 

"He told me that he would rather be known as a good man than a wealthy one." He then turned so he was facing M.J. "More than anything, that's the kind of man I want to be." 

M.J.'s face took on a deeply sympathetic expression, and she pulled him into a tight hug. For a few moments they just stood there, Peter letting the occasional tear stream down his face. While it had gotten a little easier in the years since, he still had trouble coming to Ben's grave and keeping his eyes dry. 

When they pulled away, M.J. then took his cheeks in her hands and pulled him into a kiss. It was short but sweet, and when they separated, Peter saw her face had a huge smile on it. 

"Peter," she said. "You already are one." 

"Thanks," he replied after a moment of hesitation. "Even if I don't completely agree." 

"Good," M.J. said, her deadpan expression slowly returning, "cause, you know, you'd probably be a narcissistic jerk if you did." She still allowed a smile to escape from her mouth, probably in spite of herself. He laughed a little at her response. How was it that she just knew exactly how to cheer him up? 

Peter then felt his phone buzz, so he took it out and noticed it was a group text from Ned and Betty that included both him and M.J, asking if they all wanted to come over to Betty's place to hangout that night. 

"What do you think?" Peter asked her. 

"Eh, I guess it would be fine to indulge them for at least a little bit," M.J. replied. Peter typed a response indicating they would be there soon. He then put away his phone and began to lead them back out of the cemetery, but not before taking one last look at Ben's grave. 

"Beloved Husband & Uncle" 

The man was truly that. 

Max's eyes shot open all of a sudden, and he sat up quickly. He tried to take a moment to gather himself, but his senses were all out of wack. He was unable to smell anything, his ears had a constant sound like the static on a TV screen going through them, and his vision was...blurred? No, that wasn't the word. Distorted might be more appropriate. It was almost like he could see through the building. He saw streams going through the building, like maybe the power going through it? He couldn't tell; he put his hands to his face, but found he couldn't even feel much of anything. 

"Where am I!?" he shouted. "Hello!?"

He heard a response of some kind, a voice coming over some kind of intercom. He couldn't discern all the words; he heard something about some kind of lab and something about help he needed. 

"I can't understand you," he shouted. 

"Max?" He couldn't understand much after that, but he clearly recognized the voice. It was his wife, Tara. 

"Tara; honey is that you?" he said, suddenly throwing his legs back down to the ground and trying to get up in a hurry. As he tried to stand up, however, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain through his body that sent him to his knees. His body felt strange, almost like it was trapped within something. He started frantically tearing at his skin, trying to get whatever it was off. He grabbed at his arms, his stomach, even his face. Next thing he knew, he felt completely fine; his senses had even adjusted, but when he looked to the ground, he was horrified. 

Beneath him lied all his old skin, as if he had shed it like an animal. He looked to his hand, which was a solid blue, and coated in what looked like electricity. He looked at his other arm, and sure enough, it looked the same. He ran over to a window, and his reflection almost made him jump out of his skin a second time. His whole body was covered in blue energy, as if he were some kind of living electrical generator. 

"Max?" he heard behind him. He spun around to see his wife, staring at him. He honestly couldn't tell what was in her expression, probably because he still had a million thoughts going through his own mind. What had happened to him? 

Two more people came into the room as well, dressed in white lab coats. "Mrs. Dillon, stay back," one of them said as Tara slowly started walking towards him. 

"Babe, it's still you in there, right?" she said. 

"Tare, stay back," he said gently, raising his arm to indicate she should stop. As he did, a streak of electricity zoomed out of his hand, flying just to the side of his wife and striking the far wall of the room. Max's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in horror at what nearly transpired. 

His wife could've died just now, and it would've been all his fault. 

He looked down at his hands again, before looking up at his wife one more time. Then he ran. He didn't know where he was going, and he ignored his wife's pleas for him to come back. He just knew he had to get away, before he hurt her for real. He ran out of the building, following the path of the road through the woods. He had no idea how long it took him before he finally got out into the city again, but he knew he was exhausted. When he reached a dark alley out of view, he collapsed to the ground, his body barely wanting to support him. His eyes caught sight of a fuse box on the side of the building to his right, and he reached for it completely on instinct, as if it were a completely normal thing to do. The electricity from the box drained out from it and into him, and suddenly he felt a little bit stronger. He found some old clothes in a nearby dumpster. He wouldn't smell good, but at least he would be able to somewhat disguise himself. Throwing on the hood of the jacket he was wearing, he started to make his way down the sidewalk, keeping his head down as best he could. 

He didn't know what was going to do or where he should go, so he just kept walking, hoping desperately that answers would come to him. 

He just knew he was confused, scared, and more alone than he'd ever felt in his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picking up steam! Also, I was informed that yesterday was a national day for our beloved webslingler, so Happy Belated National Spider-Man Day everybody!! 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy out there! 
> 
> "There was a notice above him, which read..." Luke 23:38-43


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter took it all in: the wonderful scent of the hot chocolate, the warmth that emanated out of the mug and into his hands, and the overall environment around him. Betty's family's house had a very warm and welcoming vibe to it, which was currently being exemplified by both the hot chocolate the family had generously offered their guests as well as the fire burning bright in the fireplace. When Peter and M.J. had arrived about 30 minutes ago, they talked about what felt like a million things that they might do. Next thing he knew, they had been sitting on the couch and chairs in the living room, talking about nothing in particular. Peter didn't mind; while he enjoyed various activities with friends, he found these peaceful times where one could simply enjoy the company of friends to be the best times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: More college talk, Peter is informed of Max's departure, and tensions flare when Betty's suspicions come to a head.

Peter took it all in: the wonderful scent of the hot chocolate, the warmth that emanated out of the mug and into his hands, and the overall environment around him. Betty's family's house had a very warm and welcoming vibe to it, which was currently being exemplified by both the hot chocolate the family had generously offered their guests as well as the fire burning bright in the fireplace. When Peter and M.J. had arrived about 30 minutes ago, they talked about what felt like a million things that they might do. Next thing he knew, they had been sitting on the couch and chairs in the living room, talking about nothing in particular. Peter didn't mind; while he enjoyed various activities with friends, he found these peaceful times where one could simply enjoy the company of friends to be the best times. 

"So, M.J, when are you going to beat Peter in a test competition again?" Betty asked out of nowhere. Peter immediately turned to meet M.J.'s eyes, and her smug look was not lost on him as he shot back a defiant look of his own. 

"Well, you know, I've got to allow time for his wounds to heal," M.J. said, not taking her eyes away from his as she gave him a look of false sympathy. 

"My wounds, huh?" Peter questioned. 

"Oh yeah, your ego looked pretty bruised after last time," M.J. replied, her lower lip sticking out in a fake pout. Wow, she looked really cute when she was making fun of him...

Dude, focus! 

"My ego is just fine," Peter fired back. He leaned back comfortably in his seat, hoping this show of composure would reassert some level of control. "I'm ready whenever you are." 

"Oh, is that right?" M.J. said, her expression going from smug to challenging as her eyes expressed an intensity that Peter had found to be unmatched. 

"Okay you two," Ned chimed in. "Save it for the walk home."

"Aww, babe," Betty whined, giving Ned a playful backhand to the arm. "It was just getting good." 

"Look," Ned said, putting his hands up as he seemed prepared to defend himself, "I'm as much a nerd as the next person, and it was all fun and games when it had consequences that pertained to me, but the fact that this whole thing is your all's way of flirting now is just weird!" 

"Now you know how it feels, bro," Peter fired back. 

"At least we flirt in the normal way," Ned answered, not missing a beat. 

"Yeah, and it's gross," M.J. said, her face back to its traditional deadpan, matter of fact expression. 

"Alright, alright," Betty jumped in, "don't make me play referee among the three of you now!" 

"Alright baby," Ned said, and Peter didn't miss the knowing look Ned gave him as he said it, "what do you want to talk about?" 

"Well, how about something that is coming upon us faster than we want to admit: college," Betty said. For a moment, the room became very quiet. Peter glanced at Ned again, and saw he was looking a little uncomfortable, so he decided to speak up. 

"I'm planning on going to Empire State," he said. "Hoping to continue working with Dr. Connors while I get my degree in Biophysics." 

"Nice!" Betty offered. "What about you, M.J?" 

"I'm going to Empire State too," she said, before quickly adding "and no, it's not just because Peter's going there too."

"I wasn't going to assume that," Betty said, putting her hands up in her defense. Peter was pretty sure everyone else in the room knew that wasn't true. "What are you going to be studying?" 

"I'm planning on double majoring in Criminal Justice and Chemistry," M.J. stated proudly. "I'm going to be a CSI."

"Nice way to put those observation skills to work," Betty said. 

"What about you, Betty?" Peter asked. 

"I'm still trying to decide for sure, but I'm looking at Columbia University for journalism," she said. This wasn't a big surprise, especially since she seemed to have been stepping up her game this year in her reporting for the school. 

"That's neat," M.J. said dryly. "Hopefully you'll have more than Jason Ionello to work with." 

Betty rolled her eyes hard; Peter could only smile at M.J. ONCE AGAIN bringing up Betty's broadcast partner for the school paper. She seemed to never miss an opportunity to roast him it seemed, and it was to the point where Peter almost felt bad for the poor guy. 

"What about you?" Betty said, giving Ned a tap to his knee to get his attention. "You've become real quiet all of a sudden." When he didn't answer again, Peter tried to back his best friend up. 

"He probably just hasn't decided yet," Peter said. "A decision this big can't be rushed after all." 

"No, it's not that Peter," Ned said. There seemed to be resignation coming from his voice. "Thanks anyway though." 

"What's going on," Betty asked, looking back and forth between Peter and Ned. 

"Peter doesn't even know," Ned explained, "but I'm looking at going to MIT." 

Peter could sense the sudden tension, as it seemed for a moment as if all the air had been sapped in the room. 

"I...I just assumed that..." Betty said, clearly struggling to finish her thought. 

"That I would be staying local?" Ned said, finishing her thought. "I'm not fully decided yet, but....that might not happen." 

Peter was surprised by this, but not shocked. He too had thought Ned would stay close by, as he didn't seem like the type who would want to leave the nest after high school. However, he also knew that MIT had a lot of the type of stuff Ned was looking into, and on paper it was definitely a dream fit. If he did go, he would definitely miss him though, very much. Betty seemed to be taking it much harder though, as Peter noticed her face become more rigid. She had a look in her eyes as if she was lost and trying to find her way back. 

Peter's phone suddenly rang, and when he saw who it was, he politely excused himself and stepped into another room. He was happy to get out of the room for a moment, but given who was calling him, it was either going to be for a great or terrible reason. 

"Bruce?" he answered. 

"Hey Peter," the man responded, his voice very soft. "Dr. Cho has been busy, so I told her I'd call you about what happened." 

"What happened?" Peter repeated, his mind immediately beginning to run through the possibilities of what those two words could mean. 

"Max woke up, then he, well..." There was a pause on the line, and every second seemed like torture to Peter's answer seeking mind. "Long story short, he transformed into this blue, electrical being and ran off." 

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" Peter asked, running his free hand through his hair in a fit of nervous anxiety. 

"We've been trying to locate him, but haven't had any luck so far," Bruce answered. "I just figured you'd want to know; thought you might want to help track him down." 

"Yes, of course," Peter answered in a hurry. "I'll get started right away and let you guys know if I find him."

"Kid, be careful," Bruce warned, a graveness to his voice. "They said when he left, he seemed...he was freaked out by his powers. It might not take much to set him off." 

"I'll be careful," Peter assured him. "Thanks Bruce." 

"Good luck kid," Bruce answered. "Let us know if there's any way we can help." 

"You got it," Peter answered before promptly hanging up. He walked quickly back into the other room and gathered his backpack. 

"Sorry guys, I have to go; personal emergency," he said. He observed as M.J. and Ned gave him a slight knowing nod, but he also saw that their looks didn't go unnoticed by Betty. He hated to leave M.J. and Ned to cover for him like this, but if Max's change was as bad as Bruce had made it sound, Peter needed to find him as soon as possible. He ran over to give M.J. a quick kiss, then scurried out the door. 

"What was that about?" Betty asked. During the time Peter had stepped out of the room, everybody had just sat there in silence, the only noises in the room being the crackling of the fire and the occasional sipping of hot chocolate. 

"I don't know; like he said, a personal emergency," M.J. answered. She thought it would actually help that, while she and Ned could likely guess that it was something Spider-Man related, the fact that they didn't actually know why he was leaving would help their case this time. 

"Then what was that look you two gave him about?" Betty asked. 

M.J. chastised herself in her mind; it had become instinct for Peter to convey to her or Ned through a look that he was going out to save the day somehow when he couldn't say it out loud, and she would always acknowledge it with a slight gesture of her own. It was her way of saying, "Alright, be careful. Please come back in one piece because I love you and don't want to lose you." She should've been more mindful in their current situation though, given how much Betty had started to question things. Even when she hadn't said anything, M.J. could tell by her friend's facial expressions and body language that she was becoming aware that the other three in their group were keeping a secret from her. 

"What look?" Ned finally answered, clearly trying to play dumb. He looked over at M.J. and she gave him one of her death glares that told him he better keep his mouth shut and let her do the talking, but Betty spoke up before she got the chance. 

"Oh come on, you guys don't think I see what's happening?" Betty said, standing up from her seat on the couch. 

"And just what is that?" M.J. said, hoping her annoyed with everything kind of attitude would help cool the situation. 

"I saw those looks that you guys gave him. You know something, don't you?" she said, looking back and forth between the two. 

M.J. stood up and walked over until she was a few feet from Betty and basically next to where Ned was sitting. "Betty, we really don't know where Peter's going or what came up that made him leave in the first place," she stated, point blank. 

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Betty said, and M.J. felt more pain in her heart than she cared to admit as she heard the anger and distrust in her friend's words. "Especially after you wouldn't tell me you were thinking of going to school," Betty added, now looking to Ned. "Peter even tried to cover for you!" 

"He didn't know what I was thinking; he probably could just tell I looked like I didn't know how to answer, so he was just buying me time," Ned explained. 

"But why did you feel like you had to keep the idea of going there a secret from me?" Betty asked. Ned's hesitation only seemed to be making the issue worse, as Betty's expression turned more and more hurt and her eyes started to tear up. M.J. searched her mind for something to say, but she found herself at a loss. 

"You guys were some of the first friends I ever really had," Betty said, wiping away a tear. "I mean, I've had friends before, but you guys truly accepted me, or at least that's what I thought." 

"That's not fair," M.J. spoke up, getting a little upset at that last statement by Betty. 

"You're right, it's not," Betty said, her voice getting lower with each word. "It's not fair that the two of you get to play cover up for him and pretend like I'm not even in the room when you do." Betty then took off upstairs. Ned started to get up, but M.J. placed her hand on his shoulder. 

"Stay here," she said. "Let me go talk to her."

"This is my mess too," he defended. 

"She's mad at you for more than one reason right now," M.J. clarified. "Right now we just need to focus on getting her to calm down without giving away Peter's secret." 

"So what, her problem with me doesn't matter now?" Ned said, and he started to get up again. M.J. put more force into her push this time, practically pinning him to the couch. 

"Stay. Here," she practically growled, and turned to go up the stairs. Ned was her friend too, and she hated that he was also in this situation, but right now she was focused on handling the situation with Peter's secret in mind, and she knew Ned would make it more personal. She found the door to Betty's room mostly closed but still cracked open. She gave a couple knocks and pushed open the door to find Betty laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

"What do you want?" Betty asked, an unusual harshness to her voice. M.J. stepped inside the room and closed the door back to the level it was at before. She took a couple more steps forward, her hands fiddling with each other as she tried to come up with what to say. 

"Look, Betty," she began, "I'm sorry about what happened down there, but I have a feeling this is all just about nothing." 

"Oh yeah," Betty said, sitting up on her bed, "and how's that?" 

"I think you're reading into this a little too much," M.J. said, trying to sound as nice as possible. "Those little nods Ned and I gave were just acknowledging that we were disappointed that he had to leave, but we understood. Peter didn't leave because of some deep dark secret." 

"That's not the impression I got," Betty said, moving her feet off the bed and to the floor. She stood up and walked over until she was face to face with M.J. 

"Look," Betty continued, her voice a little more collected than before, "It's not the fact that Peter's keeping some secret that bothers me. We're all entitled to them, but the fact that you and Ned don't just say something like, 'Peter's just dealing with something right now; I'm just not at liberty to say,' but you don't. Honestly, I worry that you guys might be doing him a disservice." 

"Excuse me?" M.J. said, her eyebrows raised to their maximum height possible. 

"I'm just saying, if Peter's on drugs or something..." Betty started. 

"Which he most certainly isn't," M.J. defended staunchly. She REALLY didn't like where this conversation was going. 

"Or if he's into something else he shouldn't be, you guys are only enabling him by keeping his secret," Betty persisted. "I see how much it bothers you guys when he leaves. M.J, if he needs help..." 

"Peter doesn't need anything of the kind," M.J. said, her voice starting to become venomous. The anger building in her at Betty's insinuations against Peter's character, regardless of where she was coming from with them, were really starting to get on her nerves. 

"Then what is such a big deal that you guys have to keep me out of the loop about it?" Betty said, her voice almost a shout by the end of the sentence. 

"What's going on is the fact that you're meddling in something that's none of your business," M.J. said, her voice pointed. "Any secrets of Peter's are for him to tell to whom he wants to, and that's that." 

"But it's not fair for you guys to pretend like I don't exist every time he suddenly leaves!" Betty shouted before taking a moment to compose herself before continuing. "You know, maybe Brad was right about all those things he was saying about Peter back in Europe." 

"How dare you!!" M.J. shouted, getting right up in Betty's face. Her face was red with rage and it was taking everything in her to control herself as much as she was. Betty was her friend, but Peter came first, and she was not about to let his good name get slandered like this. "You don't know ANYTHING!! Peter does so much for this city, for the WORLD, and all he gets in return are people trying to destroy him! I can't believe you would stoop to Brad's level like that!" 

Betty was about to answer her, when suddenly there was a concerned voice coming from behind them. "Girls, what's going on?" came Betty's mom. "Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah mom, everything's fine," Betty said, trying to put on a smile for her mother before turning to look back at M.J. "My friends were just leaving, right M.J?" 

M.J. said nothing in response, only offering Betty one last look that she hoped conveyed everything she was feeling in that moment: betrayal at her best friend slandering Peter's name, hurt at the fact that she might be about to lose one of her few friends in life, and anger at the whole thing in general. She then turned around and walked out without saying another word. 

"Come on Ned, we're leaving," M.J. said, as she came down the stairs, but when she actually peaked into the living room, Ned was already gone. Allowing herself a rare moment to hang her head in defeat, M.J. went and scooped up her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder. She opened the front door, stepping out quickly and closing the door again equally as fast, but not hard. As she started off towards her and her mom's new apartment, she fought back tears as she replayed everything that just transpired in her head over and over again. She tried desperately to think of something, anything other than that, but it was no use. She might have just lost two of the people she was closest to in life because of her loyalty to Peter, and that was a hard pill to swallow. All that, plus the fact that in her anger she had spilled a little bit of the scale of what Peter did with her comment about how nobody appreciates him. Granted, she hadn't exactly said "Peter is Spider-Man," but Betty was sure to be more curious now if she ever came back to that comment. 

One thing she knew for sure: she had to tell Peter about it all somehow. The question was, how? She made up her mind to leave it be for tonight and talk to him tomorrow. Call it a hunch, but she had a feeling he was would have enough on his plate after tonight as it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was both fun and tense to write. Hope you all liked it! 
> 
> Everybody stay safe and healthy out there! I hope and pray that my work is able to entertain and inspire during this tumultuous time. 
> 
> "Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy..." Psalm 130


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By now, Max had been walking for quite a while, but still no answers had come to him. He kept wandering, keeping his head down and the hood of his jacket up in order to keep his blue, electric face as concealed as possible. He also kept his arms tucked in as much as possible to try and hide his hands as well. As much as he tried to think of a plan, all his brain would come back to was one question: how had this happened to him? One moment, he was doing a routine repair job, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, one freak accident later, he was a literal freak of nature, a living electrical generator that could harm anyone around him if he even gestured wrong. 
> 
> His wife. He had almost hurt, maybe even killed, his wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Max tries to help tries to help, Yuri and her partner run across him, and Peter finally catches up to Max.

By now, Max had been walking for quite a while, but still no answers had come to him. He kept wandering, keeping his head down and the hood of his jacket up in order to keep his blue, electric face as concealed as possible. He also kept his arms tucked in as much as possible to try and hide his hands as well. As much as he tried to think of a plan, all his brain would come back to was one question: how had this happened to him? One moment, he was doing a routine repair job, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, one freak accident later, he was a literal freak of nature, a living electrical generator that could harm anyone around him if he even gestured wrong. 

His wife. He had almost hurt, maybe even killed, his wife. 

Max stopped walking, slumping over to the side for a moment. If it were physically possible, he would be crying right now, but his body had no tears to shed, yet another reminder of how his life might never be the same. 

"Help!" Max suddenly heard somebody crying out, and the sounds of what seemed like somebody getting slammed against a wall. He glanced around the corner into an alleyway, and saw exactly that: 4 men beating a guy senseless. As far as he could tell, there didn't look to be any rhyme or reason behind it, just a bunch of maybe college age guys beating somebody up. 

Memories came flooding back of the days in high school when Max would often get beat up. He was never the strongest kid, and frequently was on the wrong end of the fists of some of the popular athletic kids in his school. He turned to try and walk away, but the anger in him just kept flaring up at the sight before him. He couldn't just walk away, but he still feared killing these guys by mistake if he lost his temper. No matter how angry he was getting, he still didn't want to kill anybody. He tried again to keep walking, but the poor guy taking the punishment called out for help again. Max stopped dead in his tracks, his hands forming fists as he fought with himself and his anger rose. Finally, he turned and took a couple of steps into the alley, facing the guys who were doing this. 

"Leave him alone!" Max yelled. When they turned to look at him, he immediately turned his face away. He hoped they wouldn't see this as a sign of cowardice, but that's exactly how they seemed to take it as one guy in particular approached him. 

"Oh, yeah, what are you going to do if we don't?" the one who approached him said. He was about the same height as Max, but it was clear between the two of them who spent more time in the gym. Max still refused to look, keeping his face down and to the side. 

"That's what I thought," the young man boasted. "Why don't you run along now and leave us to teach this punk a lesson." The young man then turned and walked back towards the others. 

Max's anger slowly built as the young man's words rang in his mind. 

"Teach this punk a lesson." 

Those were the same words he used to hear growing up. 

He clenched his hands into fists once more, the electricity in them starting to sizzle. He could feel it moving through his whole body at a pace slightly greater than before, as if his growing rage was making his whole being come more alive than before. He started walking towards the group, and the same young man greeted him as before. 

"I said go away dude," the guy all but yelled. Max finally turned to reveal his face through the hood to the young man, and he watched as his face went from one of confidence to complete and utter horror. "G..get away from me you freak!" the guy shouted, and the others started to turn around. Max couldn't see there faces though, as he kept his eyes trained on the ringleader of the group as he kept advancing towards him. 

"I can see," Max said, the electricity in his body altering his voice. He almost didn't sound human. Nevertheless, he continued: "that you have never been where this guy has been before," he said, slowly raising a blue hand to point to the guy on the ground. "Well, how about a little taste?" 

Max quickly threw out his fingers, sending a blast of blue lightning near the feet of the guy, then another, then another. 

"Alright, alright STOP!!" the guys yelled, having fallen back onto the ground at Max's most recent blast. "We'll go, just leave us alone!" 

"Oh, I'll let you go," Max said, coming over and crouching down, looking the young man in the eye. He had to admit, there was a very small part of him that was enjoying using his newfound power and looks to intimidate a bully. "If you agree to never do this to anyone ever again," he added, gesturing to the group behind them. 

"Yeah yeah, absolutely!" the young man promised emphatically. He then scurried back to his feet and ran over to his friends. For a moment, they all stood their in stunned silence, just staring at Max. 

"GO!" Max yelled, and they all took off running. Max then walked over to the boy who was laying on the ground. He had been beaten pretty badly, and a lot of his face was already swollen. When Max came over, he cowered in fear like the others. 

"Don't be afraid," Max said, trying to force himself to sound as normal as possible as he crouched down next to him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"S...stay away from me!" the guy shouted, and he quickly got up and took off out of the alley. Max slowly stood up, trying to process everything that had just happened. He had just used his powers to intimidate, and there was a part of him that had actually enjoyed that, which he immediately chastised himself for. Despite some of his anger issues while he was an alcoholic, he never resorted to violence or intimidation. Then again, maybe that was because he had never had such an obvious upper hand before? 

Then there was the reaction from the one he was trying to help...it had been just the same as the others. Max had wanted to reassure the guy, yet all he saw was fear and terror in his eyes. Even when he tried to do good, all he would know would be fear. 

Max was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of police sirens blaring as a cop car pulled up to the alley. He instinctively raised his hands over his face to block the light from the vehicle, grateful that he didn't shoot a bolt of electricity this time. After a moment, the lights turned off and two officers stepped out of the alley. Max dipped his face down again, hoping these officers wouldn't pry too much. 

"Excuse me," one of them, a woman, said to him. He could hear their footsteps coming closer to him, but thankfully they stopped at least a few feet away. "We got a call recently about an assault near this alley. Have you seen anything going on like that around here?" 

"I...I think they went that way," Max said, gesturing with his head as best he could in the direction he saw the guys run off. Maybe, just maybe, if he told them where they were headed, they just might....

"Sir, I'm afraid you're going to have to answer a little more concisely than that," came the voice of a man, and Max could hear his footsteps coming closer to him. 

"No, stay back!" Max said, backing up instinctively. "I don't want to hurt you officer. Please!" 

"Did you just threaten me?" the officer said, and Max heard what sounded like a gun being unholstered. 

"Carter, stand down!" Max heard the woman shout, but it was no use. The man, Carter must've been his name, told Max to get down on his knees. Max was not sure how to proceed. If he complied, they would surely find out what he was and lock him up in some hole, or maybe in a secret lab to be studied and never heard from again. If he resisted, he would surely be fired upon, and he didn't know if this new electric form of his protected him from gunfire or not. 

"I said get down!" Carter yelled again. 

"I said that's enough!" the woman yelled again. 

Max then made his choice: he quickly looked up and fired a blast of electricity near the feet of the officers, close enough to them that it caused them to fall to the ground, but not where he actually hit them. He then took off running, and as he passed the woman, their eyes met for just a moment. Unlike the others, he saw shock, but no evidence of fear. Still, he kept going, turning and running down the side of the street as fast as he could. 

"Are you okay?" Yuri's partner asked her as they both got back up on their feet.

"Carter, what in the world was that!? Yuri shouted as she quickly marched up to him. 

"He threatened me!" the man defended. 

"Are you kidding me!?" Yuri yelled back. "Did you not see his body language? Did you not hear how scared he sounded?" 

"I'm not going to take any chances, Watanabe," Carter defended. 

"Get in the car," Yuri said. 

"What?" her partner said. Yuri took a step closer. 

"Did I stutter? I said get in the car. I'll be there in a moment; I'm going to have a look around to see whether or not something went on around here," Yuri said. Her new partner stared at her for a moment, then started marching towards the car. Yuri took advantage of her new partner's back being turned to her, taking out the device Spider-Man had given her and quickly put it in her ear, tapping it. She knew this was likely to get her in trouble if her partner caught her doing this, but she felt in her bones this was the right move. She remembered the look she caught in the blue man's eyes moments before: he was scared. They had no indication that he had done anything wrong, and Spider-Man seemed to be one who was as willing to reason as he was to fight, an ability her new trigger happy partner clearly did not possess. Plus, the man they just encountered could shoot electricity from his hand's so this was clearly something more up her other partner's alley. 

"Hey Yuri," Spider-Man answered, "listen, I don't mean to be rude, how important is this? I'm looking for someone who might be very dangerous, even if he doesn't mean to be. He's scared and confused, and I really need to find him before he hurts someone."

"Actually, I think I might've just run across who you're looking for," Yuri said, walking around the alley with her flashlight, doing her best to make it look like she was really investigating the scene so as not arouse her partner's suspicions. "Blue guy who can zap electricity from his hands?"

"That's him," Spider-Man answered. "Where are you?" 

"In an alley near 3rd and Broadway," she answered. "He took off east down the side of the street. He was wearing a dark brown hood and jeans." 

"Got it, headed that way now," Spider-Man once again answered, the urgency in his voice throughout the conversation not going unnoticed on her part. "Thanks Yuri." 

"Be careful," Yuri added as she crouched down, trying to make it seem like she was examining something. "I sent my partner to the car so I could talk to you, and I have a feeling he is calling this in, which is protocol, but still, I really think it's best that you find him first. Even if you can talk him down, those reinforcement units might only escalate things." 

"Understood; appreciate the heads up," Spider-Man answered. It was clear he understood the gravity of the situation. "I'll call you when I have an update," he added, then hung up. Yuri kept looking around for a moment before finally heading back to join her partner in the car. She wasn't looking forward to dealing with her annoying partner, and the questions she was sure to encounter, but she fully believed it was worth it if Spider-Man could end up getting there first. She had faith he could handle this. 

She just hoped she was right. 

Peter made his way past 3rd and Broadway within minutes of Yuri's call, trying his best to pick up the trail from there. He set his suit's system to pick up any electrical anomalies in the area, really hoping that if anything was picked up it would lead the way to Max. Every once in a while, his mind kept wondering back to his friends, how Betty seemed to pick up on the looks M.J. and Ned had given him. He forced those thoughts back though; right now, he had more pressing matters at hand; he would have to deal with that later. 

It took him almost 30 minutes of circling the area near where Max had been sighted, but he finally caught sight of someone walking along the sidewalk that fit the description Yuri had given him. He had his system scan the individual, and it detected high levels of electricity. It had to be Max. The question now was, how did he approach this situation? If he jumped down, he would only scare Max and possibly endanger a lot of people in the area. He needed to be very strategic about this. He then noticed Max was about to round an alley, so he quickly jumped towards it, moving quickly down the side of the wall in anticipation of where Max would be. He realized how shady it was going to look, just calling Max's name from a dark alley. The guy could think it was just some punk in a Spider-Man outfit and either run or attack. Peter just really hoped that when Max heard his name it would at least cause him to pause. 

After a moment, the man came around. 

"Hey Max," Peter said in a hushed voice, "Pssst!" Sure enough, Max stopped, and actually turned to face him, though he seemed hesitant to fully show his face. 

"Spider-Man," he heard Max say. His voice sounded...well, electrified, just like everything else about him most likely. 

"Yeah, it's really me," Peter said, getting an idea. "Here, let me prove it real quick." Peter then shimmied a little ways up the wall next to him in the alley before dropping back down from about 15 feet up, hoping that was enough to prove his point. 

"They said you were the one who brought me in," Max said, seemingly a little less tense than before. 

"Sure did," Peter said. He then motioned for Max to step into the alley. "Why don't we talk in here? You know, a little more out of the eyes of the New York nightlife?" Max quickly stepped in. It was then that Peter got a look at the guys face fully for the first time: it was completely blue, electricity cackling all around it. He could see Max's veins, as if his body was almost luminescent. Even though Max was a couple feet from him, Peter could feel almost every hair on his body standing on end even through his costume. 

"You, you have no idea how relieved I am to see you," Max said, still just a littler nervous looking. 

"What happened man? When I left you, you hadn't exactly joined the Blue Man Group yet," Peter said, hoping that injecting some levity into the situation. Max's reaction of hanging his head proved otherwise. 

"Sorry," Peter added, quickly trying to course correct. "I have this nasty habit of making bad jokes in tense situations."

"It's fine," Max answered, his voice quiet. "Not long after I woke up back in the lab, I felt this pain like nothing I've ever felt in my life, and then...it was like I shed my skin. This must've been what was underneath," he added, gesturing to his face. 

"I would say it looks good on you, but somehow I have a feeling it wasn't worth the price," Peter joked. Max let out what seemed to be a slight chuckle, putting him just a little more at ease. 

"That's one way of putting it," Max said. "I tried to stop these guys earlier, and they just...they looked at me like I was some kind of freak." 

"I've gotten that reaction before too," Peter conceded, remembering his early days of crime fighting where people used to scream at the sight of a man crawling along the walls like a spider. 

"Even the guy I tried to help," Max continued, "he...he wouldn't let me. He just ran away." 

"Listen Max," Peter started, realizing he had no idea how much time they really had, "I need to get you out of here. The place you ran away from was actually the rebuilt Avengers facility upstate." 

"The...the Avengers?" Max said. 

"Yeah," Peter answered in the affirmative. Max almost seemed to perk up a little at that, so he continued: "They have some of the best scientists in the world there. If anyone can help you, they can. Plus, your wife..."

"My wife..." Max's voice suddenly took a turn, with Peter picking up something that sounded like a mix of regret and anger. "I could've hurt her when I was there, maybe even killed her. No, I have to find my own way." 

"Max, if there's one thing I've learned this year, it's that pushing people away to protect them isn't the answer," Peter said. 

"You don't understand," Max said, starting to turn away. 

"Actually, I'm probably one of the only ones who does understand," Peter countered. Max stopped in his tracks, turning to look back at him. Peter was about to continue, when suddenly he heard the sound of a police siren from a distance away. 

"Max, we have to go now," Peter said, urgency filling his voice. He didn't want to find out if Yuri's suspicions were correct or not. "I can web you enough so you won't hurt me. Come on." 

Max appeared to be thinking about it for a moment, before he started hearing the sounds of sirens too, and within seconds, two police cars pulled up to the alley. Officers immediately got out and drew their guns. 

"Police! Get on the ground!" they shouted. 

"Wait, I've got this!" Peter shouted, stepping in front of Max. 

"Get out of the way Spider-Man!" one of the officers shouted. "This man attacked two officers earlier." 

"He doesn't need to be arrested, he needs help!" Peter defended, making sure to keep his own hands up. 

"I don't think so," one of the officers said. Peter was about to say something else, when his spider-sense went off. He saw Max's arm reaching around his body, ready to fire upon the officers. 

"Max don't!" Peter shouted as he instinctively grabbed Max's arm. While the clothing protected him some, Peter still felt a shock as a loose bolt of electricity went flying out, hitting a building across the street and causing some debris to fall. Peter dropped to his knees for a moment, the glanced up in terror as Max shot a blast of electricity towards the officers. Fortunately it was only a warning shot, as the officers dived to the ground out of the way. 

"I don't want to hurt anybody!" Max shouted. 

"Max, stop," Peter said, standing in front of him. "I can get you help." 

"Sorry Spider-Man," Max said, regret in his voice," but I can't have you following me. Peter's spider-sense then went wild, but he couldn't react quick enough as Max sent a blast of electricity into him, sending him flying into one of the police cars. Electricity continued to course through him, and Peter could feel parts of his flesh practically burning. After a moment that felt like an eternity, Max finally stopped, and Peter dropped to the ground, pain coursing through his whole being. 

"This is your only warning," Max said. Peter looked up to see the man standing over him. "Don't come looking for me again." With that, Max went running down the street, disappearing around a corner. 

Peter forced his knees and elbow underneath him, trying to make himself get up, despite the pain. He suddenly heard the cocking of a gun. 

"Stay right there Spider-Man, you're under arrest," one of the officers said. 

"On what grounds exactly?" Peter asked, managing to look up to face the officers. 

"Aiding in the escape of a suspect," the officer replied. 

"More life saving your lives," Peter said internally, just barely keeping it that way. He slowly gathered his strength as best he could. He hated the thought of running to the police, but he was going to need to make a break for it. Finally, after gathering himself as much as he could, he leapt forward towards a nearby rooftop, disappearing over it as the officers got off a couple errant shots at him. He quickly made his way back into the heart of the city, and, once he had made him significant distance between himself and the officers, he crashed onto a rooftop, finally acknowledging all the pain he was feeling for the first time as he landed with a loud groan. He likely had at least some burns on his body, and his costume was charred everywhere. More than that though, all he could think of was Max. The man was scared, alone, and feeling as though nobody was going to give him a chance. And now, Peter was more behind on getting him than ever, as Max was now wanted by the cops, and he wasn't exactly in the best standing with them either. 

What a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about stopping earlier, but I felt I had to keep going. I know this chapter is long, so hopefully it still retains your interest! 
> 
> Full disclosure, after writing so much so quickly, I'm beginning to struggle with motivation. I love writing this stuff, but it's getting harder and harder to keep up the quality of it in my opinion. I'm beginning to stress a little bit it. 
> 
> Please, feel free to leave comments. Whether you think my writing is terrible or great, please tell me why you think that. I am open to any and all thoughts, but the big thing is just that I'd love to hear from you all. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope that I can entertain and maybe even inspire a little during this difficult time through my writing. Please, stay safe and healthy out there! 
> 
> "What do you want me to do for you..." Mark 10:46-52


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know it looks bad, but I'll be fine within a day," Peter assured her. She just gave a nod in response. "Are you sure there isn't something else?" Peter asked her. 
> 
> She looked away from him for a moment, and he could tell that there was something more going on. However, all she gave him was "it's nothing." 
> 
> "May..." Peter said, hoping that saying it in his usual whine might tug at her heart a little bit and make her talk. 
> 
> "It's nothing I want to talk about," May said a little more sternly. Peter was a bit taken aback by this; it was very out of character for her to hide something from him. What was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter begins to realize just how much is going on around him.

Peter struggled getting home; the cold wind rippled through his shredded costume, and it wasn't mixing well with the various electrical burns across his body. He finally managed to get home, gently easing his way into his room through the window. His costume was charred and shredded all over and the electricity he'd been hit with short circuited many of it's functions, including his usual means of removing it. Deciding that it was beyond repair anyway, he tore it from his body, tossing the shredded pieces in a pile on the ground. 

"Peter?" he heard May call from down the hall. 

"Just a second," he called back, quickly throwing some shorts on. After a moment, he told her she could come in. She stepped through the doorway and her eyes widened at the burn marks across his body. 

"I-I heard on the news that you helped Electro get away?" she stammered. 

"They gave him a name already?" Peter said as he began to exit the room, trying halfheartedly to redirect the conversation, even if he knew it was futile.

"Peter, what happened out there?" May asked, clearly trying to get more to the point. By now, they were moving the conversation into the bathroom so Peter could run some cool water on his burns. He'd have to bandage himself up afterwards, but his body would eventually take care of the rest. 

"Max had a run in with Yuri and her new partner before I caught up to him," Peter began to explain. "The guy drew a gun on him despite Yuri's protests, and Max fired on them and made a getaway. She told me where he was heading, I caught up, but after a moment so did the police. They drew their guns on him too. I tried to get in between them and talk everybody down, but they both had other ideas."

"Peter..." May said, and it was clear as Peter glanced towards her eyes that she was thinking very carefully about the next words she said. "It sounds like you did the best you could, but he did fire at the police." 

"Only because of a misunderstanding," Peter clarified. "Yuri said they were looking for a group of guys when they found Max, and her partner just wouldn't leave him alone."

"Okay," May said, putting her hands up. It wasn't often that she conceded a debate to him, minor or otherwise, but it had got to the point where she knew she needed to trust his experiences as Spider-Man and let him handle such matters as he saw fit. Acquiring that trust meant a great deal to Peter, even if he didn't often admit it. 

"So what are you going to do now?" May asked. 

"Nothing tonight," Peter answered, shutting the sink water off. He had gotten his arms as best he could in the sink, but a cool bath would be needed for the rest. He walked over to start the water as he continued: "In the morning I'm going to call Pepper about going over to use Tony's workshop at the lake house. I need to make some tweaks to my costume if I'm going to avoid something like this happening again. After that, I'm going to find Max and get this thing sorted out...somehow." 

"Okay," May replied quietly. "Let me know if you need anything." Peter caught a quick glance at her face before she turned around to head to another room; she looked particularly downcast for some reason. 

"May," he said, and she turned around again. 

"Are you okay?" Peter asked, walking up to her. 

"Yeah, you know, other than my nephew nearly getting electrocuted to death tonight and all that," she replied. 

"I know it looks bad, but I'll be fine within a day," Peter assured her. She just gave a nod in response. "Are you sure there isn't something else?" Peter asked her. 

She looked away from him for a moment, and he could tell that there was something more going on. However, all she gave him was "it's nothing." 

"May..." Peter said, hoping that saying it in his usual whine might tug at her heart a little bit and make her talk. 

"It's nothing I want to talk about," May said a little more sternly. Peter was a bit taken aback by this; it was very out of character for her to hide something from him. What was going on?

"Okay," he stammered, unsure of how to proceed. "Just...just know that I'm here, if you ever want to talk." Her look softened quite a bit, and everything about her expression looked like she wanted to tell him something, but instead she simply walked into the other room. Peter suddenly found himself hurting more inside than out; what was the deal with May? It seemed like ever since Happy had been there... Peter's eyes widened as thoughts began swirling through his head. Had Happy said or done something to upset her that night? Did he try to win her over again, and was she upset at him for it? Could it even have been the other way around? Peter suddenly shook his head, trying to push those thoughts back. He would worry about that another time; that is, he would passively worry about it until he could actively worry when he was actually doing something about it. For tonight, he was going to treat his injuries and go to bed, and that was it.

After he had soaked in the cool water in the tub for a while, he bandaged up what areas he could before putting on his pajama clothes for the night. He then remembered he hadn't texted M.J. or Ned to let them know he was okay, so he grabbed his phone and typed out a short message about what happened before sending it to both of them. Almost as soon as he did, he got a call from Yuri on his other device. He put it to his ear and answered it. 

"Hey Yuri," he greeted her. 

"What happened?" Yuri said in what sounded like a very stressed, but also hushed voice. 

"I got to him first, but your backup caught up to us," Peter explained. "They pulled their guns on him and I got in between them..."

"What were you thinking?" she asked harshly. 

"I was thinking I wasn't about to let anybody get shot or zapped if I could help it," Peter answered defensively. He had always been respectful of Yuri, but he was not going to let her just rip his trying to save lives like that. 

"Spider-Man, you're a wanted man now too, just like him," she stated. 

"Wait, what?" Peter asked, his eyes widening at the words he just heard. 

"To them, you assisted in the getaway of a dangerous suspect, which makes you an accomplice," Yuri explained. "Look, my partner's got everybody all riled up, but once this settles down things might change, but you have to be a lot more careful in how you operate for now."

"I understand," Peter replied, sighing heavily as he ran a hand through his hair. 

"For the record," Yuri continued, "I still think you're the best bet we have when it comes to stopping this 'Electro,' as apparently they're calling him. I know I sounded upset a minute ago, I just...there just had to be another way for the situation to be handled." 

"That doesn't matter now," Peter said, pressing forward. "What matter's now is finding Max and making sure nobody else gets hurt."

"I'll dig into it," Yuri said. "I'll call you if I find anything." 

"Understood, and Yuri, we will fix this," Peter said, trying to sound as positive as possible. He wasn't sure if it was more to reassure her or himself. 

"I know," Yuri affirmed, then the call was ended. Peter tossed the device down onto his desk, walking back over and grabbing his phone before rolling onto the bed. Surprisingly, there was still no response from M.J. or Ned. Usually they both would respond almost instantaneously to such a message. He set his phone down and went into the kitchen to grab a snack, settling on an apple. He brought it back to his room, taking a couple of bites along the way. When he got back, he saw that he had one message. He picked up his phone and saw that it was from M.J, but it wasn't part of the group message. 

"Sorry for the delay; I'm glad you're okay," it read. 

"Wow, that even rhymes. You're a poet!" Peter answered in a text on his phone. He took another bite or two out of his apple before he was alerted to another message from M.J. 

"Dork," was all it said. 

"You're stuck with this dork," he eagerly typed out and sent in response. He finished off his apple, tossing the core into the small trash container next to his desk as his phone dinged again. 

"Anyway, I'm gonna head to bed early, but can we meet tomorrow? There's something I need to talk to you about," M.J.'s message answered. A small frown came on Peter's face as he typed out his response. 

"Or I could call you and we can talk about it now?" Peter texted. It was less than a minute before he got a response. 

"Relax nerd, I'm not breaking up with you or anything. I just have something I need to talk about," her text read. 

"Sure, I can meet. Headed to the lake house in the morning to workshop my suit a bit. Want to tag along then?" he sent in response. 

"That works," she responded. They set their plans and said their good nights and I love yous, and Peter was just about to settle into bed, but he decided he should send a text to Ned to make sure everything was cool. He didn't get the chance to finish it though, because his best friend beat him to the punch. 

"Glad you're okay man," it read, and that was it. 

"Seriously? That's all I get? You don't have 10,000 questions for me about how it all went down?" Peter sent in reply. 

"Maybe tomorrow, man. Long night. Talk later," Ned's response said. 

Peter sat up in his bed, staring down at the message. First May not wanting to talk about something, then M.J. saying they needed to discuss something, then Ned being secretive; was there something in the water that Peter's powers had made him immune to? He contemplated trying to pry Ned a little harder for answers, but decided against it in the end. He had a feeling that whatever M.J. was going to talk to him about tomorrow involved Ned somehow, so he was likely going to get answers then. 

Deciding he wanted to get an early start, Peter set his alarm on his phone for 7:00 A.M. It wasn't even midnight yet, so he'd still get a decent bit of sleep. He set his phone on the nightstand next to his bed and switched off the light. Sleep didn't come right away though, despite the fact that he was exhausted. He kept coming back to the various facets of his current situation: he was wanted for assisting in Max's escape from the cops, May seemed to be keeping something from him, and something was going on with M.J. and Ned, probably related somehow. That's when it hit him: Betty. Peter suddenly remembered how she seemed to pick up on the looks M.J. and Ned had given him. Had something went down among the three of them after he had left? 

Peter let out a groan as he rolled over in bed. Once again, he was seeing his responsibilities as Spider-Man send a ripple effect through his personal life, and even what little that wasn't tied to it had something going on. 

All of a sudden, dealing with an electrically powered dude running loose in the city seemed like the least pressing of his worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who follow both this work and series as a whole for being patient. I hope to able to get back more into my usual routine if possible as we are closing in on the final few chapters or so. Thanks to all who've subscribed and left comments, kudos or bookmarks. I feel like I've written a lot, but I've been doing this for less than 6 months, so seeing you all reacting to my work in this way has been wonderful, and I hope to continue to write in a way worthy of your readership. 
> 
> My prayers to you all; please stay safe and healthy (physically, mentally, and emotionally) during this crazy time. You guys are awesome! 
> 
> "Blessed are those who mourn..." Matthew 5:3-12


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost immediately after he hung up, he heard the doorbell ring. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he just assumed May must've ordered something off Amazon. His aunt wasn't a big shopper, mostly because they couldn't particularly afford it, but every once in a while she would order a book or some kind of home decor. She was out attending some employee appreciation breakfast for the community center workers though, so he would have to be the one to answer it. He quickly trotted down the stairs and came to the door, but when he opened it, it wasn't a deliveryman he saw. 
> 
> It was M.J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter and M.J. discuss their predicament, with a small does of Morgan Stark sandwiched in between.

Peter woke up in a state of instant agitation, his alarm the worst noise he could possibly imagine in the moment. His mind's continual restlessness had prevented him from getting any sort of consistent sleep, so his eyes were heavy and his brain was foggy as he reached over and grabbed his phone, silencing the alarm. Rubbing his hands against his eyes for a moment, he finally forced himself up and out of bed; experience had taught him it was better to just get up and at it quicker in order to help him get into the day. He groaned a little bit as he stumbled over to his closet to pick out some clothes, still a bit sore from yesterday's events. He eventually selected a plain white t-shirt and a patterned button up to go with a pair of jeans. Peter Parker was hardly one to get too complicated when it came to clothing style after all; if it fit and kept him comfortable, it was good enough. 

He took the clothes he selected to the bathroom, taking the time to examine his injuries in the mirror as he changed. Most of the damage from the burns had healed, enough at least that he no longer required the bandages. Some of the marks would likely still be there for a few hours, but be gone before lunch. Peter shook his head as he dressed himself, thinking about how much more efficient his healing factor would likely be if he could ever start consistently getting a good night's sleep. 

When he got back to his room, he remembered he still needed to call Pepper, so he deposited his clothes from the night prior on his bed for the moment and picked up his phone, dialing Pepper's number. She answered after two rings, and after exchanging quick greetings, he explained the situation to her. 

"Peter, you know you don't have to ask to come over, especially when you need to use the lab," Pepper said, her voice making it clear this was a statement and not a question. "Please, you and M.J. can come over whenever you are ready. I actually have a rare day off, so Morgan and I will both be happy to see you." Outside of May and M.J, Pepper must've been the most amazing woman he knew. Her compassion, warmth and hospitality were all unwavering, and it made Peter feel just a tad guilty anytime he felt he was remotely taking advantage of it. He knew there was no logical reason for him to feel this way, but then again, when had his guilt complex ever operated based on logic? 

"Thank you Pepper," was all he could say to express his gratitude. "I'm about to head out the door to pick up M.J."

"Perfect," Pepper replied. "Text me the address, and I'll have someone pick you guys up." 

"Sounds good. Thanks again," Peter replied.

Almost immediately after he hung up, he heard the doorbell ring. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he just assumed May must've ordered something off Amazon. His aunt wasn't a big shopper, mostly because they couldn't particularly afford it, but every once in a while she would order a book or some kind of home decor. She was out attending some employee appreciation breakfast for the community center workers though, so he would have to be the one to answer it. He quickly trotted down the stairs and came to the door, but when he opened it, it wasn't a deliveryman he saw. 

It was M.J. 

"Hey," Peter said, more than a little surprised, but nevertheless opening the door wider for her to come in. "I thought the plan was for me to pick you up at you and your mom's place? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you earlier than normal, because of course I am, but I wasn't expecting you." 

"Yeah, but then I woke up early, and I....I just really needed to see you." Peter knew this wasn't something she admitted easily; M.J. was about as strong and independent as one could get. In a way, knowing this made him feel even more privileged that he was the one she opened up to the most, but at the same time, it killed him inside anytime something appeared to be even remotely bothering her. She had been through so much in her young life, and he just wanted the best for her. 

"Okay," he finally said after a moment. "Do you want to sit down and talk about it? Pepper was going to send a ride for us to pick us up from your place, but..."

M.J. closed her eyes and let out a light groan as she hung her head back for a moment. 

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Peter said, walking up to her and placing his hands on her shoulders, rubbing up and down lightly. "Talk to me." 

"I'm sorry Peter," M.J. said, shuffling a few steps over and slumping onto one of the counter seats. "I just seem to be messing things up left and right recently." 

"This is about something that happened after I left Betty's yesterday evening, isn't it?" Peter said, taking a seat on the chair next to her. 

"She saw the looks Ned and I gave you, and after you left, she prodded us a little, and she got upset and went up to her room. I only made things worse after that," she said. 

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, offering her an inquisitive look. M.J. proceeded to tell him everything: how she strong armed Ned into letting her handle the situation, how she lost her cool at Betty, and how she basically gave away the scope of what Peter did, even though she didn't offer any details.

"I wanted to control everything," M.J. said, remorse filling her voice "because that's who I am. I thought I could protect your secret and still help Betty to understand, but in the end I accomplished neither." She then buried her face in her hands, all the stress of the previous night seemingly coming back at once. Peter placed an arm around her shoulders, giving a gentle squeeze as he tried to silently reassure her. 

"I'm sorry for leaving you to cover for me like that," he finally said after a moment. "It's not fair for me to keep doing that to you guys." 

"You have nothing to apologize for Peter," M.J. said, removing her face from her hands and meeting his eyes. "Even if I didn't completely understand it at the time, I knew ever since London that keeping your secret would mean dealing with tricky situations."

"I know," Peter said, "but I feel like I've come to rely on you to just bail me out anytime I have to go deal with the latest crisis, and that's not right." 

M.J.'s expression seemed to lighten up a bit all of a sudden. "If there actually is a multiverse, there HAS to be a universe where your doppelganger doesn't blame himself for everything," she said. 

"Good luck finding them," Peter said. "It's probably a constant across space and time." 

M.J. let out a small chuckle before her concern over the situation returned in her facial expression. "All joking aside," she said, looking down for a moment before meeting Peter's eyes again, "I don't know what we're going to do about this." 

"Have you spoken to Betty since yesterday?" Peter asked. 

"No," M.J. answered. "I wouldn't know what to say if I did. By the way, did Ned ever answer you last night?" 

"Independently, like you," Peter affirmed. "He just said we would talk later." 

"I think he hates me now too," M.J. said, burying her face in her hands once again. 

"I'm sure that's not true," Peter encouraged her. "I've known Ned for a long time, and I'm convinced it's not possible for him to hate anybody." 

"Maybe," M.J. replied, sounding less optimistic. "It's just...coming back from the Blip, I knew I needed to make more of an effort to make friends. Getting to know Betty over this last year...as cool as you and Ned are, it's been nice to have a girl friend. It just hurts, thinking that I've blown that, you know?" By now, Peter could see tears slowly beginning to well up in her eyes. He said nothing, but scooted a little closer and put both arms around her, and for a couple minutes they just stayed in that position. They finally separated, and Peter suddenly remembered something. 

"So, I totally need to text Pepper to have us picked up from here now," he blurted out. 

"Well, in your defense, you have been kind of occupied," M.J. said, with just a hint of her trademark snark coming back. Peter let out a light snort in response, giving her a quick peck on the lips before running back to his room and grabbing his phone to text Pepper about the change in plans. About 20 minutes later, they were on their way to the Stark lake house. 

Peter was barely through the door when Morgan ambushed him, wrapping his legs in a hug. 

"Well someone's happy to see me!" Peter said, patting Morgan lightly on the back as he and M.J. stepped inside. 

"She sure is," Pepper remarked, coming over and looking down at her daughter. "Morgan, what did we talk about regarding ambushing guests at the door?" 

"Sorry," Morgan said a little bashfully. 

"Oh, I don't mind," Peter said, picking Morgan up and giving her a gentle toss into the air before catching and setting the little girl back down on her own two feet. 

"Also, wasn't there something you wanted to show Peter when he got here?" Pepper prompted her daughter. 

"Oh yeah!" Morgan answered, then was suddenly running off, presumably to get whatever it was she wanted to show him. 

"I still don't know how you handle her some times," Peter said to Pepper, shaking his head. 

"She's basically a little Tony," Pepper said, looking in the direction the little girl ran to a moment ago. "She does what she wants and not much stops her. Thankfully, that's exactly what I had to practice dealing with." 

"Yeah," Peter said, Tony's memory coming back to him. It always did every time he visited the place. It had gotten easier to deal with as time moved along, but he knew that there would always be that little bit of pain that would come with those memories, knowing there wouldn't be any more to make. 

It was at that time that Morgan came running back, holding a paper in her hand. 

"Look, I got a perfect score on my writing test!" the little girl said enthusiastically, proudly showing off the 100% mark on her paper. 

"Wow, that's amazing!" Peter exclaimed, bending down and examining the paper more closely. "You keep getting scores like that and soon you'll be smarter than me!" 

"Will I be as smart as M.J?" Morgan asked. 

"Well, I don't know," M.J. said, bending down next to Peter in front of the girl. "That's a pretty high bar, but like Peter said, if you keep getting grades like that, you just might beat EVEN me." 

The four of them had some more chit chat before Pepper had Morgan go play outside so Peter and M.J. could attend to what they came there for. 

"By the way, I'm making lunch around noon," Pepper said. 

"Wouldn't miss it," Peter assured her. "Thanks." He and M.J. then headed down to the basement, with Peter utilizing his clearance to open the lab up fully. He opened up the large 3-D printer, not too dissimilar to the one he had utilized on the jet several months ago, and began entering what he needed. He decided it would be easier to just create a new suit. He began sorting through the materials he needed; his suit would have the same red and black design as it did before, but he made sure to add significant layers of insulation, both on his costume and web shooters. He had M.J. help him work through the details of it, knowing that she appreciated being included in stuff like that. Honestly, he enjoyed working with her on spidey stuff too; it made them feel like real partners in a way not many other activities did. 

"Anyway, back to what we were talking about earlier..." Peter said as he programmed the printer to begin the process. He and M.J. never did resume their talk after texting Pepper about the change in plans, neither one of them seemingly sure of how to continue. 

"Right, yeah," M.J. said, and it was clear by her reaction that she was just as uncertain even now as Peter of what to do about the predicament they were in. 

"Okay, I'm going to ask you something," Peter said after a moment of awkward silence, "and I want you to answer honestly." 

"Is there any other way I answer anything?" M.J. asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. 

"True," Peter muttered, leaning back against the printer and crossing his arms over his chest as he continued. "Do you think I should tell Betty my secret?" 

M.J. didn't answer right away, instead looking to the side, then down, and frankly everywhere but Peter's direction. It was clear that she was thinking good and hard about her response, which Peter appreciated. The last thing he wanted was some half-baked, emotion centered answer. Finally, she looked him in the eye and answered. 

"No," she said, point blank. 

"Okay, why do you say that?" Peter asked. It wasn't that he disagreed with her, but he wanted to know her rationale by which she arrived at that answer. 

"Because," M.J. began, "as much as I want her to be able to be fully included in all this, and as much as I think we can trust her, I still think, as I'm sure you do, that keeping the circle as small as possible is the best move." 

Peter looked away from her for a minute, staring down at nothing in particular as he pondered her answer. 

"Am I wrong in thinking you feel the same way?" M.J. asked, drawing his eyes back towards hers. 

"No, I'd still like to keep the circle small too," Peter admitted. "It's just..."

"Ned?" she said, finishing his thought for him. 

"Yeah," he affirmed. "If the two of them continue to date, there will come a time where he can't keep this from her anymore, or at least it would be unfair for him to have to do so. I just...I don't know. I really don't want to bring someone else into this if I can help it." 

M.J. stepped closer to him, and took his hands into her own, unfolding his arms in the process. 

"I know I gave my opinion already," she said, meeting Peter's eyes as she spoke, "but just know that, whatever you decide, you have my support." 

Peter offered a smile, adjusting his grip on her hands so he could have her whole hands in his own. "Are you sure about this?" Peter asked. "I mean, if I choose not to tell her, you could lose her as a friend if we don't come to an understanding with her. 

M.J. held her head down for a moment before looking back towards him, and he could see a fiery resolve in her eyes. 

"I'm sure," she said. 

Peter smiled again for a moment, before putting his hands against the hair on the sides of her head, and they leaned in so their foreheads touched. In this moment, Peter was perhaps more grateful to have her by his side now than ever before. She was ready and willing to give up so much for him, and would ask for nothing in return. He wished he could just wrap the world in a bow and give it to her, because that was what he felt she deserved. 

It was right as they separated that Pepper came down and informed them that lunch was ready. He checked the printer one last time, just to make sure everything was operating smoothly still. He and M.J. then turned to start heading up, when Pepper added one more thing that Peter was in no way expecting. 

"Oh, by the way, Happy stopped by," Pepper said, "and when I mentioned you were here, Peter, he said he wanted to talk to you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked it! Thank you once again to those who leave comments, kudos or bookmarks. Your support is greatly appreciated :) 
> 
> Please stay safe and healthy; my prayers are with you all during this insane time. 
> 
> "Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or evil..." Mark 3:1-6


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey Peter," Happy said, his voice a tad off. 
> 
> "Hey Happy," Peter said, deciding to be the one to close the distance between them as he walked up to the man. "Pepper said you wanted to talk?" 
> 
> "Uh yeah, yeah," Happy stammered, his resolve seeming to weaken a little bit. Peter was worried his was too, as the man's anxious vibes were not helping his own self-confidence. 
> 
> "Do you want to step outside, maybe?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter and Happy discuss May, Peter and M.J. being dorks in love, Peter and Ned have a hard talk, and Peter comes home to a heartbreaking sight.

"What do you think that's about?" M.J. asked after Pepper went back up the stairs. "Some Avengers related business maybe?"

"No," Peter answered in a bit of a clipped, but not harsh, tone. The fact of the matter was that he had a strong suspicion that the topic Happy wanted to discuss was May, and he was conflicted. On the one hand, talking this out with Happy might help him figure out a way to help his aunt, especially since she hadn't been particularly forthcoming recently. On the other hand, Peter absolutely did not want to get too involved in May's love life. The fact that he knew Happy personally too only made the situation even more awkward. He finally started walking towards and then up the stairs, with M.J. right behind him. Peter decided as he ascended that he owed this to May, and to Happy, since the man was his friend after all. He just really, really, REALLY hoped that he wouldn't feel as awkward as he expected he would. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, yet was only likely 10-12 seconds at the most, Peter finally reached the top of the stairs to the main area of the cabin. Sure enough, there was Happy over by the table, dressed in his usual white shirt and black suit. He honestly wondered if the man ever wore anything else. 

"Hey Peter," Happy said, his voice a tad off. 

"Hey Happy," Peter said, deciding to be the one to close the distance between them as he walked up to the man. "Pepper said you wanted to talk?" 

"Uh yeah, yeah," Happy stammered, his resolve seeming to weaken a little bit. Peter was worried his was too, as the man's anxious vibes were not helping his own self-confidence. 

"Do you want to step outside, maybe?" Peter said, gesturing in the direction of the front deck. Happy nodded, and then turned and walked through the front door, with Peter right behind. Happy sat down in one of the chairs, so Peter took a seat in one a few feet away. At first, neither of them said anything. Peter found himself looking out onto the beautiful property, even catching himself reminiscing about when he and M.J. both said I love you for the first time. He couldn't afford to allow himself such a distraction; he needed to focus. But how was he supposed to start this conversation anyway?

"Listen, Peter," Happy said, finally breaking the silence between them. Peter looked towards him with anticipation regarding what he would say next, and Happy seemed to cower a little bit when he made eye contact with him. 

"You know what never mind, this was a bad idea," Happy said so fast it almost sounded like one word. He got up from his seat and started to walk away, but Peter stood up as well and spoke up, stopping the man after only a few steps. 

"Look man, I know this is awkward," Peter started, smacking his hands together with some of his restless energy, "but ever since that night where I saw you at the apartment, May's been acting weird, but she won't tell me anything. I gotta get something out of one of you guys." 

Happy turned around after a moment from the edge of the deck and took a couple steps back towards Peter. He took a breath before speaking up again. 

"Alright, yes, I was there to talk to your aunt about maybe giving us another shot," Happy said, and there was a bit of sadness and disappointment in his eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Peter. 

"I'm guessing that it didn't go so well?" Peter inquired, though he pretty much already knew the answer. 

"No, not exactly," Happy said. "Our breakup...it just never really sat well with me. I don't know." 

"May never really went into any details about it," Peter said. "I just know it happened after....after I sat the two of you down to get some answers." Those last words came with a little bit of guilt. Honestly, Peter had felt that way since May had told him about it, but it was just now being fully realized. "She said it was mutual though." 

"Yeah, that's what I made her believe, or maybe even wanted myself to believe," Happy said. "But it never sat well with me. I always felt like we were a good fit, but..."

Peter could see the man wanted to say something that might come off as a little bit insensitive towards May, but he made the decision to trust that Happy would choose his words wisely. 

"Go on," he prompted the man. 

"I just always felt that there was something holding May back from fully committing," Happy answered. "We really did agree to just kind of enjoy ourselves together for the summer for a bit, and at first that's all it was, but something changed in my mind, and I was really certain it had in hers too." 

Peter could sympathize with Happy a little bit; he remembered that night in Prague, when his intent to confess his feelings to M.J. had gone horribly wrong, and she had said she was only watching him because she suspected him of being Spider-Man. He had gotten lucky in the end though, so maybe Happy could too? However, he suspected this situation was a little bit different, though he wasn't sure of the specifics. He got the feeling that Happy was wanting to ask a particular favor of him, so he decided to beat him to the punch. 

"Are you asking me to talk to her on your behalf?" Peter asked, and was practically holding his breath as he waited for the answer. 

"No," Happy said, shaking his head a little, and Peter let out a small breath of relief. Of course, he should've known he did so too soon as Happy continued, "I mean, maybe? You know what, forget it." Happy turned and once more started walking away. 

"Happy, come on," Peter practically grumbled. This time Happy had made it down the steps, but still stopped and turned around, this time addressing him more assertively. 

"It wasn't fair of me to try and drag you into the middle of this," Happy said, his face contorting a little bit as his frustration seemed to be boiling over a little bit. 

"And I don't want to get in the middle of it," Peter said, walking down the wooden stairs of the deck until he was face to face with the man again. "But at the same time, May is first and foremost my responsibility, and if I can help her somehow, I will." 

Happy sighed, his shoulders dropping a little bit in defeat. "Okay," he finally said. 

"I want to make something very clear though," Peter said, looking Happy dead in the eyes, "I'm NOT specifically going to try and push her towards you. I'm going to figure out what's bothering her and do my best to help her figure that out. The rest has to be up to her." 

"Understood," Happy replied, and he looked a little more relaxed now that the air had been cleared. "That's how it should be. Like you, I just want May to...to have a good life. So, we have an understanding?" Happy asked, extending his hand. Peter took it immediately.

"Oh, and Happy, don't think I didn't recognize that you had to fight to avoid making a pun off your name just now," Peter said, smiling at Happy for what he realized was the first time since they started talking. The man just shook his head, thanked Peter for his time and turned to head back towards his car. 

"What, you're not staying for lunch?" Peter asked, pointing back in the direction of the cabin. 

"Nah, I stress ate on the way here, so I'm good," Happy sheepishly confessed as he continued heading towards the car. 

"Suit yourself," Peter said, raising his voice as Happy got in the car. Peter watched Happy drive away for a moment before turning and heading back into the cabin. Well, now he had at least some idea of what was bothering May, but the question was, how exactly was he supposed to bring it up to her? He stepped through the door to find that everybody else had started eating. He walked over and took a seat next to M.J. 

"What was that all about?" she asked in a hushed voice, leaning towards his ear. 

"I'll explain later," he said. "I'm a little hungry at the moment." 

She looked at him with a playful scowl on her face, and he just smiled back at her. He then dove into the Grilled Chicken Pepper had made, and he had to say, it was delicious. 

After lunch, Peter and M.J. hung out with Morgan for a while until the new suit was ready. The final product looked in large part like his previous red and black one, but with extra insulation added throughout the costume, particularly in the chest, hands and feet. He and M.J. then thanked Pepper for her continued hospitality, and Peter scooped up Morgan before he walked out the door. 

"Now remember, you keep making those kind of grades, and you just might be even smarter than your dad or your mom one day," Peter said, shooting a glance at Pepper, who just rolled her eyes and smiled. He then set her back down, allowing the girl to give M.J. a quick hug as well, then the two teenagers were out the door. Pepper had arranged for a driver to drop them off at M.J.'s apartment, so they got in and sat in the back. For a while, Peter just stared out the window.

"What are you thinking about in that big brain of yours?" M.J. asked him in a half teasing, half serious manner. 

"The bigger question is what am I NOT thinking about," he said. He didn't remove his gaze at first, but finally turned to at least face the seat ahead of him as he continued. "I don't M.J, I'm just trying to figure out how to handle all this stuff." 

"Yeah," M.J. said dryly, "I'm guessing fighting some former member of the blue man group with electrical powers isn't exactly helping is it?" 

Peter let out a snort before responding: "No, no it's not." 

"I mean what I said earlier," she added. 

He finally turned to face his girlfriend. "I know," he said, smiling at her. He reached out and took her hand, and for a while they fell into a contented silence, just silently enjoying each other's company before eventually deciding on more casual conversation. Next thing they knew, they had arrived at M.J.'s apartment. He walked her up to her place, and they both stopped just outside the door. 

"So what's next?" she asked. 

"First things first, I'm going to go out and look for Max," Peter asserted, "see if I can find him before he really hurts someone and try and get the help he needs."

"Sounds like a good place to start," M.J. agreed. 

"I guess other than that, just try and find some time to talk to Ned and May. See what's going on in their heads, and figure stuff out from there I guess," he said, shrugging. Honestly, finding Max seemed likely to be the easy part. It was going to be figuring out how to discuss all these other complicated matters that was going to take some serious thinking through. 

"Okay. You got this," M.J. said, awkwardly pumping her fist before looking down at the ground in what was likely embarrassment. "Sorry, that was bad," she stammered. "I was just trying to..."

Peter stopped her words by planting a kiss to her lips, and he felt an extra rush of warmth when she placed a hand on his right cheek. 

"I love you," he said as he just stared into her dark, mesmerizing eyes. He felt a rush of satisfaction as he noticed a flush of red come into her cheeks. 

"I love you too," she replied, a large, toothy smile spread wide across her face. Neither one moved for a moment, both seemingly content to stare at each other before M.J. finally spoke up again.

"I should probably, uh..." she said, bouncing on her toes and vaguely gesturing towards the door. 

"Oh, right," Peter said, shaking his head to dry to get his brain out of its love stricken fog. "Obviously."

The two of them leaned forward and gave each other one more kiss before M.J. shuffled over to the door, unlocking it and stepping into the apartment, giving Peter one last big smile before she closed the door. It took Peter a moment, but he finally started shuffling on his way again. The reality of everything he had to deal with slowly started hitting him again, but somehow, it all felt a little more achievable, a little easier. 

With M.J. in his corner, it all felt a lot easier. 

After finding an alley to change into his new suit, Peter scoured the city for a hours. He watched, he listened, and he set his suit's system scan for any electrical anomalies or power outages of any kind, but there was nothing. Wherever Max was, it was somewhere isolated, maybe even off the grid. Finally, after hours of swinging, Peter perched himself on a section of the Chrysler building. Thinking through his options, he finally decided to call Ned to see if maybe he had any ideas....and hopefully have another important conversation with him too. 

"Hey man," Ned said, answering after just a couple of rings. 

"Hey," Peter replied. "Look, first things first, I need your guy-in-the-chair expertise on something."

"Alright, what do you have for me?" Ned asked, and Peter swore he could've heard his friend try and fail to crack his knuckles, something he seemed to enjoy doing before a particularly challenging task of any kind. 

"I've been scouring the city for hours looking for Max, but I've come up with nothing," Peter began. "Now, the theory I've been mulling over in my head is that, if his body is generating all that electricity, he likely has to recharge at some point, right?" 

"Yeah, that makes sense," Ned agreed, "I mean, as much as it makes sense for a guy to be able to be like MADE OF electricity at least." 

"Keep in mind that you're talking to a guy that can climb walls and has a precognitive sense that warns him of danger," Peter pointed out. 

"Fair enough," Ned answered in a matter of fact manner. 

"Anyway, I've been using my system to scan the surrounding area as I pass through, but it's not enough," Peter explained. "Think maybe you can hack into the city's electrical grid? We'll pick up any anomalies faster that way."

"Oh, I KNOW I can," Ned replied confidently. "Just give me a little bit." 

Peter waited for a couple minutes before Ned finally came back on. 

"Well, I got in, but there's no signs of any particular anomalies," Ned said, sounding a little dejected. "Max must've, eaten, so to speak, recently, assuming your theory is correct." 

Peter lowered and shook his head. He really hoped something might pop up, but clearly this was going to take more time than he hoped. 

"Alright man, can you keep checking it every once in a while, please?" Peter asked. "I'll try and keep watching things on my end too." 

"Can do," Ned replied. 

"Awesome, thanks man," Peter said. Now, how to breach the other topic...

"Hey man," Peter continued, basically hoping he found the words as he went along. Starting the conversation had to be the hardest part, right? "So, M.J. filled me in on what happened at Betty's after I left." 

"Oh," was all Ned said, his happy tone no longer present. 

"She even told me how she forced you to stay downstairs, which she said she was sorry about by the way," Peter added. For a moment there was silence on the other end, then Ned spoke up:

"I get where she was coming from, but I really think I could've helped if she had let me," Ned said, and the frustration in his voice was not lost on Peter. 

"I understand," Peter replied. "Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. From the way M.J. described it to me, I'm not sure there's much of anything either one of you guys could've done without...you know..." 

"Without telling her?" Ned said, finishing Peter's thought for him. 

"Yeah," Peter said. "Look, what do you think: should we bring her in on it? Honest answers only please," he requested. Once more there was silence on the other end of the line, and Peter knew that, like M.J. had, Ned was really mulling this over. 

"To be honest, I almost had to stop myself from telling her when she went up the stairs," Ned answered. "I was really close, Peter." 

Peter was a bit taken aback, though not completely shocked, by his friend's confession. After a moment, he finally answered:

"I get it. I've put you in a tight spot," Peter admitted. 

"Yeah," Ned agreed, which kind of hurt Peter a little bit, but Ned deserved to have his say. "Look man, of course I would like to tell her, but I also understand that that choice isn't mine to make. It's yours. So, I guess whatever you say, I'll find a way to roll with."

Peter took a moment to process those words. Ned seemed less certain in his choice than M.J. had been. She had clearly expressed that it wouldn't be easy, but she had also gone as far as to say that her thought was that THEY shouldn't tell Betty. Ned, however, was more on the fence about it seemed. Peter knew that Ned would ultimately adhere to his request to maintain his secret if he wished; he wasn't doubting that. However, if Ned was wanting more with Betty in terms of where their relationship would go down the road, it would make sense that he would want to be honest about this huge secret he was carrying. 

"If I know you, I know that right now you're letting my words guilt you into making a decision that you don't necessarily agree with," Ned said. His best friend clearly knew him very well. That's what best friends are for, right?

"I don't know man," Peter said. "I need to think. I'll contact M.J. and see if I can get all three of us to rendezvous somewhere tomorrow to discuss the matter, so we can figure something out before Monday. Thank you for being honest with me though."

"Hey, what are best friends for?" Ned said, echoing Peter's own thought from earlier. 

"In the meantime, keep checking the grid every so often if you could. I'll watch things on my end with the police scanner and such, and hopefully we can locate Max," Peter added. 

"Will do man," Ned affirmed, "and thanks. I appreciate you hearing my thoughts on the whole thing with Betty, and I'm sorry it came up in the first place." 

"Maybe it was bound to happen," Peter conceded. "Anyway, I think I'll head home; there doesn't seem to be much more I can do here right now. I'll let you know about tomorrow."

"Alright bro, later," Ned said, and then they hung up. Peter then dove off the his perch spot, free falling for a moment before firing a web line and swinging off for home. Before long, he was sliding open his window and letting himself into his bedroom, making sure to close the window back. He removed his mask and was just about to tap the centerpiece of his suit to shrink it down so he could change, when he heard a noise that sounded like...crying? His spider-sense not giving him any reason to worry about his identity, Peter had a likely theory spring up in his head and he headed towards the source of the noise, moving quickly but still being as quiet as possible in his steps. After a moment, he came to his aunt's room, and the sight before him confirmed his theory.

There was May, sitting at the edge of her bed, her face wet with fresh tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered stopping earlier in the chapter, but I really want to get all of this into this chapter, so hopefully it all flows well. Hope you liked it! I encourage you to leave your thoughts on it. If you didn't like it, please explain why; it gives me something to think about to potentially better my writing that way. 
> 
> Thank you to all those who have subscribed, left comments, kudos, or bookmarks. I am truly grateful for the support you guys show me, and, as I often say, my prayer is that I can continue to write in a way worthy of your readership. 
> 
> My prayers for you all that you will stay safe and healthy (physically or otherwise) during this crazy time in our world. 
> 
> "The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword..." Acts 16:16-40


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, Peter, I'm sorry," May said, wiping away at her eyes. "I didn't know you were back. Any luck tracking down Max?" 
> 
> "May," Peter said, slowly walking into the room. 
> 
> "Peter, I don't want to talk about it," May said. 
> 
> "We NEED to talk about it," Peter said,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter and May talk and reflect, and Max's resolve to stay isolated wears down.

Peter just stood there, his heart feeling as though it was being shattered into a million pieces at the sight of the tears in May's eyes. He had only seen May cry a handful of times, and most of those instances were in the days immediately after Ben's death. After a couple seconds, she turned and made eye contact with him.

"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry," May said, wiping away at her eyes. "I didn't know you were back. Any luck tracking down Max?" 

"May," Peter said, slowly walking into the room. 

"Peter, I don't want to talk about it," May said. 

"We NEED to talk about it," Peter said, bending down on his knees in front of her, reaching with his still gloved hands to take hers. "May, something has been going on with you recently, and I know it has to do with when Happy visited the other day." By now, he was begging her with his eyes just as much as he was with his words. 

"May, talk to me," he pleaded, his own eyes beginning to well up. 

May lowered her head, her long brown hair dangling over most of her face. She took a breath, then removed her hands from Peter's so she could wipe her eyes and put her hair back. 

"Peter," she said, sniffing to suppress more tears, "do you remember how I told you your uncle won me over?"

"Yeah," Peter said, the story immediately coming back to his mind, "you said that he came to visit you every single shift you worked at the supermarket when you guys were both in college. He asked you out every day for weeks, and you kept saying no, until finally one night you said yes just because you were tired of it."

"Yep," May affirmed, her eyes moving away from Peter to something ahead of her. He turned his head to see that it was the picture of Uncle Ben on the wall over top of May's dresser. 

"After that first date," May continued, "I never wanted a day to go buy where I didn't see him. He really swept me off my feet." 

"That's a great memory May," Peter said, moving from his crouched position to sit on the edge of the bed beside May, "but what does that particular one have to do with things right now?" 

May looked straight ahead for a moment before turning her gaze back to Peter. 

"When Happy first started coming to visit me in the center, I didn't think anything of it," she began. "But as we got further into our 'summer fling,' he started doing more for me: he opened doors for me, he brought me lunch, he played my favorite songs in the car..." 

"He did everything Uncle Ben did for you," Peter said, the whole thing finally beginning to make sense as his brain connected the dots. 

"Everything he did started reminding me of Ben," May said, renewed tears beginning to slide down her face, "and with that came the remembrance of how much I missed him."

Peter took his aunt in his arms as she started to cry again, and for a few minutes he just held her as she wept. He shed a few of his own tears as he too reflected on how much he missed the closest thing he ever had to a father. For many days immediately following Ben's death, these roles would've been reversed, with May the one holding and comforting him, even if they both still would've been crying. In a way, while it killed him inside to see May so distraught, it felt like a small beginning towards repaying her for all the times she had been there for him when he was in such a condition. 

Finally, they separated, and Peter spoke up. 

"May, I don't want to push the envelope too far, but can I ask you something?" he said, his voice carrying a hint of childlike timidity. 

"Sure," she answered. 

"Was your breakup with Happy really mutual?" he asked. He watched May's eyes as she clearly thought through it for a few seconds before she answered. 

"I think I convinced myself in my head it was," she replied, "and maybe I had him convinced too. I brought it up, and he didn't have any objections, and we just never spoke of it again." 

Peter looked away, processing her answer, unsure of what to say next. 

"Did he talk to you?" May asked. There was a hint of frustration in her voice, yet it refrained from full on accusation. 

"Yes, but that doesn't matter," Peter quickly countered, "because this isn't about him, it's about you. May, I'm not going to try and push you into anything; really, the last thing I want to do is get involved in your love life," he said as he leaned back a little and held up his hands in a defensive posture. This elicited a slight chuckle from May, giving him the confidence to continue, "but I also don't want you to miss you on something that you could really enjoy, even if it's different."

"I understand," May said, "I'm just not sure I'm ready yet."

"I know," Peter replied, taking his aunt's hand in his own once more. "I just don't want you to feel like you're holding yourself back from things in life because of Ben, or even me."

"You?" May asked, her face morphing into a questioning look. 

"I know you consider me into almost everything," Peter said, "and I get it. But don't worry about what I think or about how strange something is going to feel to me just because it's different. I'm basically a grown man at this point May."

"Not yet, Mr. Know-It-All," May said, removing her hand from his to ruffle his hair. 

"Okay, okay," Peter said, shooing her hand off his head with his own hands, "maybe not quite, but still. I think it goes without saying that Uncle Ben would want you to be happy too. Plus, this is all something I had to learn too." 

"Oh?" May said, tilting her head a little. 

"When you and Ben took my me in after my parents died," Peter began, "all I could think about was how much I missed them. I loved you and Ben, but...it just wasn't the same. However, Ben sat me down one night and told me that, while he could never understand how I felt, I had a choice to make: to hold onto what I had lost, or to accept what I had been given. After that, even if the pain never went away, it got easier with time, and I could enjoy life again."

"Huh," May muttered, glancing up at the picture of Ben once more, with Peter following her line of sight to it as well. "He never told me about that conversation. How about that: even now, your uncle is still giving us through life."

"He always was good at that," Peter said. His uncle really did have a way of just knowing how to meet a person where they were in life and helping them find their way forward, no matter what situation they were in. 

Peter and May's eyes made contact once more, and this time she initiated the hug between the two of them again. This time it was not a tear filled hug, but one where Peter found himself smiling, if only just a little, and he was pretty sure May was doing the same. 

"Feel a little better?" he asked as they separated. 

"A little, yes," May replied. "However, you know what would really make me feel better?" 

"What?" Peter asked. 

"Late night ice cream," May said, smiling more brightly than she had since Peter had first entered the room. 

"No arguments here," Peter said. He then got up from the bed to go to his room and finally change out of his suit, but note before giving his aunt a gentle kiss on the forehead. 

"You know I love you right?" Peter asked her, a closed lip smile prevalent across his cheeks. 

"I love you too dear," May said, her own cheeks stretched by a smile as well. "And thank you." 

"Least I can do after all the times you've been there for me," Peter said before finally turning and walking out of the room to head back upstairs and change clothes. 

Max sat against the wall, his arms crossed over one another. He had found asylum in an old abandoned warehouse, one of seemingly many in the city, and had hunkered down there for the last day, but he was finally beginning to get weak. He was coming to realize that his new body had replaced the need for food with the need for more electricity, but the results were similar: if he went without, he grew tired, achy and weak. He was barely able to think straight as it was, his mind continuously going back to his encounter with the cops and Spider-Man the other night. The cops only saw him as a criminal and a potential threat, and while Spider-Man seemed to be just trying to help, all he did was get in the way. 

If he was being honest, Max understood to a degree where both sides were coming from: he had been at the scene of a crime, so he naturally looked even more suspect when he ran, and Spider-Man seemed to be one of the few who had his feet in both worlds, the normal and the super powered. However, he just kept coming back to one feeling: anger. Anger at the fact that he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, anger that most of the world clearly saw him as a freak, anger at the fact that he would kill his wife if he even tried to touch her cheek....

Max uncrossed his arms, letting out a yell of bitterness and rage, electricity escaping his body. Thankfully, nothing blew up or was damaged this time, but the release only served to weaken him further. He then realized he had a choice: either continue to starve himself of electricity, or risk venturing out into the world and find the juice to at least carry on a little while longer. Part of him wondered what the point was in trying to go out there; even if he did charge himself up again, what good was it going to do in improving his situation? He decided to stay there for a few more hours, but eventually, his craving for electricity won out. He would just find a quick source, enough to keep him charged up for a while and maybe be able to put a little distance between him and the city if he could find a way to leave undetected. One problem at a time though: first, he needed to find that energy source. 

Max finally worked up the courage to step out into the night, his hood still up, and he looked ahead. He realized he wasn't too far from Times Square. 

"No, no no, bad idea," Max told himself, but he had to admit, while he didn't care for the crowd, there would be a great deal of energy he could take just from that area. It might be enough to keep him going for quite a while. Plus, nobody really paid attention to anybody else in such a crowded place like Times Square, right? 

It was then that Max finally made up his mind: he would make his way around the perimeter of the area to try and find a fuse box or some source of power. From there, he could drain the whole district of its power, and be on his way. Where he would go, he still hadn't figured out yet. Max didn't know much of anything these days, but he did know one thing.

He needed that electricity, and he needed it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked it! 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has left comments, kudos, bookmarks, or has subscribed. I truly appreciate all of your support!! 
> 
> My prayers for you all, that you may stay safe and healthy (physically and otherwise) during this insane time. 
> 
> "And now these three remain:" 1 Corinthians 13:13


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It could be Max looking for some place to drain the power from to restore himself," Peter said. There was a pause on the line for a few seconds before Ned spoke up again.
> 
> "I really hope you're wrong bro, cause you're not going to like where he seems to be heading." 
> 
> "Where's that?" Peter asked, a little nervous at prospect of the answer. 
> 
> "Times Square," Ned replied. "According to this data, he'll be there soon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter and May debate about ice cream, Peter confronts Max at Times Square, and gets a surprise assist in stopping him.

Peter sat on the floor, his back leaning against the couch, as he took another bite of his bowl of cookies and cream ice cream. It had been his favorite for as long as he could remember, and it only seemed to get better with time. May was sitting on the couch to his left, eating her favorite ice cream: strawberry.

"You know, I still don't understand it," Peter said after swallowing his latest spoonful. "Whose bright idea was it to make a fruit flavored ice cream?" 

"I have no idea," his aunt replied as she scooped out another spoonful, "but I sure am glad they did. You're missing out."

"No thanks," Peter replied. "I'll stick to ice cream as it was originally supposed to be." 

"This is where I need M.J. here," May retorted. "I know that she would have some random trivia to back me up with." 

Peter smiled at the mention of his girlfriend's pension for having some random knowledge of LITERALLY EVERYTHING. 

"Yeah, I'm sure, but then it would just make you both wrong," he teased. 

"Are you prepared to tell her that to her face?" May asked, giving Peter a pointed look.

"Okay, you have a point there," Peter replied, realizing pulling such a move would indeed be foolish. All that to say, he was really enjoying this time with May. After their little heart to heart and him finally having the opportunity to shower and change, they had just been sitting there, having casual conversation and eating ice cream. It had become a tradition of theirs to turn to the frozen, sugary goodness after any really deep discussion, and they always felt better as a result. This time was no different. 

They finally finished up and Peter collected May's bowl for her and took it to the the sink to rinse it out. 

"So, any more thoughts on how you're going to get through to Max when you do find him?" May asked as she moved to stand by the counter. 

"No, not really," Peter replied as he ran the water in the bowls before shutting it off and turning to face his aunt. "I really felt I was so close last time May; he at least seemed willing to hear me out. Now...I have no idea what he's going to do when we meet up again."

"From everything you told me, he just sounds really scared," May said. 

"In a way, I know exactly what that's like," Peter replied. 

"What do you mean?" May asked, giving him a puzzled look. 

"May," Peter started, walking towards the counter from the other side, "when I first got my powers, I crushed a metal pipe when I was grabbing for something on a rooftop. Even though I didn't fully understand just how powerful I was, I knew then that, if I ever lost control, I could easily kill someone. Every day I have to live with that in mind; every time I face down a common criminal, I have to be careful not to use too much strength, or they're dead. It's gotten easier with time, but the thought still is in my mind at some point every day. Max has that power too, except much, much worse." 

"Sounds lonely," May replied. "Maybe what he needs is to be reminded, as you have too, that he's not alone; that despite the risks, the people he loves will stand by him, no matter what." 

"That all sounds good May," Peter affirmed, "but how do I do that?" 

May appeared to start to say something, but they were interrupted by Peter's cell phone vibrating. He walked over to pick it up off the edge of the couch and saw that it was Ned calling him. 

"Hey man, what's up?" Peter asked. 

"So, I've been checking the electrical grid once an hour, and just within the last few minutes something's come up," Ned replied. 

"What kind of something?" Peter asked. 

"Well, it's not much," Ned began, "but there's been some interference at points over the last 15-20 minutes. I analyzed it and it seems to be following a particular pathway."

"It could be Max looking for some place to drain the power from to restore himself," Peter said. There was a pause on the line for a few seconds before Ned spoke up again.

"I really hope you're wrong bro, cause you're not going to like where he seems to be heading." 

"Where's that?" Peter asked, a little nervous at prospect of the answer. 

"Times Square," Ned replied. "According to this data, he'll be there soon." 

"Yep, gotta go. Thanks Ned," Peter said quickly before hanging up. He then sprinted up the stairs in a hurry so that he could change into his suit, not even realizing that he had left May behind until she finally appeared at the doorway to his room. By then, he was already suited up, minus the mask. 

"What's going on?" May asked. 

"Ned found out that Max is likely headed to Times Square," he explained as he slipped on his mask. "If something goes wrong, a lot of people could die, and I..."

"I know, I know," May said, "you can't let that happen. I get that Peter, but please, be careful, and don't forget where Max is coming from in all this." 

"I won't," Peter replied, and after a brief pause, he walked over and hugged May, with her returning his hug tightly. 

"I love you," he heard her mutter. 

"I love you too," Peter replied. With that, he ran and dived out the window, firing a web and swinging off in the direction of Times Square.

By the time Max was approaching Times Square, the walk had made him grow quite weak. He kept telling himself he just needed to make it to a perimeter building somewhere, but he found himself getting worse and worse. He found himself stumbling into the main area of Times Square; thankfully, it wasn't as populated as normal given that it was so late at night, and those who were there seemed too preoccupied with each other or with their mobile device to notice him. He found a series of power cables just underneath the ground about 10 feet away. He stumbled over to it, bent down on his knees and opened the metal lining that protected people from stepping on it. Reaching down, he grabbed the cable with both hands and began to drain the energy. Quickly, he could feel life returning to him again, almost as if he had been parched or starved of food and water and was finally getting it. After about 20 seconds, he probably had absorbed at least enough to sustain him until he could find a greater power source, and by some miracle no one had approached him and asked him what he was doing. He decided to chance it just a little bit longer...

"Sir," he suddenly heard someone say," I'm going to need you to remove your hands from down there." He removed his hands from the power source, but hesitated to look up right away. 

"Sir, look at me," he heard the person say again. They seemed a little bit closer this time, but still keeping their distance. Max slowly lifted his head, looking forward to see that it was the lady cop he had encountered in the alley; the one who had tried to stop her partner from acting aggressively against him.

"I remember you," Max all but whispered. The lady approached him closer this time, causing him to cower back a little, not because he feared she'd attack him, but because he was afraid of accidentally hurting her. 

"Yeah, it's me," she said. "Listen, we probably don't have time, but I need you to come with me, so we can talk somewhere a little more private."

"Look ma'am," Max said, "I appreciate what you did for me back there, but I'm not taking any more chances; not after everything that's happened." 

"I understand you're scared, but listen," she said, looking around before leaning just a little bit closer. "I work with Spider-Man," she said in a more hushed voice, "and I'm sure that if I can get you to him, he can help you." 

"No," Max said after a moment, shaking his head. "I had to hurt him last time to get away. I can't trust that he's let that go. I need to get out of here." Max then stood up, preparing to turn and walk away. By now, a few more eyes were looking his direction, probably because they could tell he was talking to a cop, so he kept his head down, his hood offering at least some shielding of his face. 

"Hey you!" he suddenly heard, freezing in his steps. "Turn around!" the voice said. Max recognized this one too: it was the lady cop's partner, who hadn't taken so kindly to him. For a moment he just stood there. 

"Stand down Carter," he heard the lady cop say. "I have this under control."

"No can do," the man replied. "Sir, turn around." 

At this point, Max knew he had a choice: either cooperate, or fight. He wasn't afraid of the officer, but he was afraid of what might come next. He feared that, instead of taking him to people who would honestly try and help his condition, he might end up as a lab rat to be studied for the rest of his life. 

"Sir, get down!" he heard the male officer yell again, despite his partner's protests. 

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," Max replied, his mind made up. He turned and shot a lightning blast from his hand, striking the ground near the officer and knocking him down. He heard a mix of screaming and the sound of police sirens and cars came converging on the area. Multiple units of the police force came out and pulled out their guns on him. 

"You guys don't want to do this!" Max shouted. "I'm warning you!" When the officers showed no signs of standing down, he slowly crossed his arms together, charging them up before shooting them down to his legs, letting out a powerful surge of electricity all around him, letting out a shout as he did. He glanced to his side, noticing that one of the cars was flying right towards the lady cop who had tried to help him. He didn't have much time to process what was happening however, as Spider-Man came flying in out of nowhere, landing on the roof of the car and ending up with his feet on the ground, holding the car upside down over his head. 

"Hey there partner," Peter said, looking down at Yuri for a moment before gently tossing the car back behind him so that it landed on all four tires. He then jumped onto the roof of the car, surveying the scene. The blast Max had released took out every police vehicle in the area, leaving officers lying all over the place. Thankfully, nobody had been killed, but Peter knew that if he didn't contain the situation one way or another soon, that could change in a hurry. 

Hey Captain Sparklefingers!" Peter shouted, raising his hand to further draw Max's attention. When the man looked at him with a less than pleased face, he quickly changed course. 

"Sorry," Peter said, still crouched on the roof of the police vehicle, "there's that nasty habit of making ill timed jokes again. Still working on that, I'm afraid." He then hopped down onto the ground, taking slow and easy steps towards Max. 

"Don't you come near me," Max said, taking a step back. 

"Look man," Peter said, reaching out his arms to show that he came and peace. "I know our last encounter didn't go so well, but I promise, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Yeah right," Max replied, "and I'm supposed to believe that, considering how I zapped you good before?" 

"I promise, that's all in the past," Peter said, still walking slowly towards Max. "You know, bygones and all that." 

"Stop right there!" Max shouted, sending a warning shot towards Peter's feet. Trusting fully in his spider-sense, he stopped but didn't jerk back at the blast, knowing it was never intended to hit him. 

"Okay, okay," Peter said, raising his hands up. "I'm just going to stay right here. I just want to help you." 

"Nobody can help me," Max said. "I'm a danger to everyone, and all people do when they see me is run from me." 

"Do you see me running?" Peter asked. 

"That's different," Max countered. "You're enhanced. You're a freak, just like me. Just wait; they'll turn against you, just like they turned against me."

"I'm not going to let that happen," Peter tried to assure him, daring to take a step closer to Max, who thankfully didn't try to shoot at him again. 

"Sorry Spider-Man," Max said, and Peter's concern level spiked when he saw Max charging up his right hand with electricity, "but that's not good enough for me. This city only understands looking out for themselves, so it's time I do the same." 

With that, Max fired a multiple blasts of electricity Peter's way, with him just barely dodging them. Peter was never more grateful for his spider-sense than in the moment, as it could time down to the motion of when Max would fire the blast, which was the only thing keeping him one step ahead of Max right now. Acting quickly, he fired a couple of webs onto Max's hands, temporarily halting his blasts. 

"Last chance," Peter said from Max's side. By now, most of the crowd that was once there had dispersed to at least a somewhat safer distance, so if he could just keep this whole thing contained to a close distance, he should only have to worry about himself. "Don't make me do this, Max," Peter said. 

"Do what?" Max said, his hands charging up once more. "You can't do anything to me." Right as he finished speaking, the webs exploded off his hands, allowing Max to take some more shots at him. Peter deftly dodged each blast, but he knew he couldn't play keep away forever. In between blasts, Peter fired a web at a nearby sales stand, launching it in Max's direction. Unfortunately, this gave Max the chance to connect with one of his lightning blasts, striking Peter right in his midsection, sending him flying until he smacked into a building. He collapsed to the ground in a heap, but forced himself up quickly. The suit appeared to hold up pretty well this time, so that was a bonus. 

He leapt back onto the scene, finding that the stand had indeed hit Max, as he had crashed several feet from where he was before. However, Max slowly got up, apparently nothing more than a little shaken from the impact. The electrical energy Max's body was generating likely protected him from some degrees of attacks, something Peter realized now that he should've taken into consideration before. 

However, instead of attacking Peter again, Max shot a blast of energy from his hands, shooting himself upward until he was right in front of one of the electronic bill boards. Peter watched as Max fired a blast into one of them and slowly floated in, utilizing his powers to keep him afloat. Peter would be geeking out right now if it wasn't for his terror of what Max might be doing. Sure enough, within seconds, all of Times Square went dark; if it hadn't been for Peter's enhanced vision, he wouldn't have been able to see a thing. He looked up as Max floated back out, electricity seemingly crackling from his entire being. He had just gotten a major power boost, and that was most likely a very, very bad thing. 

"Max!" Peter shouted. At the very least, he needed to make sure he kept the man's attention on him. It apparently worked, as Max began shooting blasts at him once again. These blasts, however, seemed to carry much more power with them, as they even sounded much louder and stronger in addition to causing more destruction. Peter knew he had no choice; he was going to have to get in close and try to deliver a knock out blow to Max somehow in order to end this. 

Webbing up one of his hands as he avoided Max's incoming blasts, he slowly began making his way towards him. He made sure to steer clear from actually making contact with any buildings; the extra insulation in his suit's hands and feet could offer him much more protection than before, but it would only hold up so long. Once he got within range, he fired a thick web that pinned Max's arms to his upper body. Peter then got to where Max was between himself and the building, fired a web and launched himself towards Max, punching him with his webbed up hand. He hit him hard enough to send him flying through the outside of the building and into the interior. Peter heard people screaming as they frantically evacuated the floors. 

Max got up, once again charging himself up and destroying the webs that bound him. 

"Look, I don't want to hurt you!" Peter shouted, desperately hoping Max would listen to reason for once. For all he knew, the electricity was gradually making him more and more irrational, or it could be tied to his emotions, and the more stressed or angry he got, the less logical he became. Not knowing any of these things only made Peter even more nervous. 

"Believe it or not, the feeling is mutual," Max replied. "But I have to do what I have to do to survive, and so do you!" 

Max was about to fire another blast, but Peter rushed forward before he could and delivered a powerful kick into Max's chest, sending him crashing through another wall. Undeterred, Max fired at him again, Peter just barely dodging it. With them being in closed quarters now, Peter had to be particularly careful. Managing to slide underneath another blast, Peter got in a punch at Max's jaw, sending him into another wall. The webbing Peter had applied was beginning to come apart with more and more exposure to Max's bio electric aura, so he had to make each hit count. 

Peter and Max's battle raged on for what felt like forever as they kicked, punched and blasted each other through walls, floors and ceilings. If this fight had been like the previous ones, Max would have at least shown some signs of slowing down by now, but Peter was now finding out how much it took to fully power Times Square right now, the hard way. He was slammed into a wall by one of Max's blasts, crumbling to the ground. 

"Stay down," Max said. Instead Peter forced himself, ready to keep going. He couldn't stop, no matter what it took. However, a voice drew both his and Max's attention away from each other. 

"Max, stop!" 

As soon as Peter saw the woman, he knew who it had to be: Max's wife, Tara. 

"T-Tara?" Max said, Peter noticing the sudden shakiness in his voice. "No, stay back! I don't want to hurt you!" 

"You're not going to hurt me," she said, walking up to him slowly, as Peter had tried before. Part of him wanted to jump in front of her to protect her, but at the same time, Max had seemed to calm down and not be so on the attack anymore. He just stood there, watching the scene unfold. 

"I'm dangerous," Max said, backing up. 

"No," Tara corrected, "you're the man I fell in love with, the man who overcame an alcohol addiction and fought to put his life back together." 

"That was different," Max said, holding out his electricity filled hands. "This isn't just something I can work to overcome; this is permanent. They'll never stop hunting me after all I've done." 

"Yes, you've made some mistakes since this has happened," Tara said, standing right in front of Max now, "but deep down, you're still the same person." 

"You should listen to her Max," Peter said, slowly walking just a little bit closer to him, but still giving the couple their space. May's words from earlier rang in his head once more: "don't forget where Max is coming from in all this." Peter came to a decision in his head, one that he really hoped he wouldn't regret. 

"I remember how you told me how she helped you through everything before, and she can do the same now, if you let her." 

"H-how do you know that?" Max asked. Tara was now looking towards Peter too. 

He took a deep breath and slowly removed his mask. 

"P-Peter?" Max stammered. "Spider-Man is a kid?" 

"Well, I'll be 18 this year, but that's beside the point," Peter joked. "Look Max, I have connections with the Avengers. I can't promise you'll be normal again, but I can give you your best shot at it. What do you say?" 

For a moment, there was silence in the room, with Peter figuring that both of them were still trying to process that Spider-Man was just some high school kid. Finally, Max's wife turned to him and spoke up. 

"You should do it," she said. Max didn't say anything, but just looked at her. "They told me back at the Avengers HQ that he was the one who brought you in there. He wanted to get you help Max. Please." 

Max's head dropped as he seemed to be contemplating his options. Finally he spoke up. 

"Okay." 

They both turned to Peter, who put his mask back on and tapped the side of it. 

"Bruce, I need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! I recognize that a lot of elements are a homage to The Amazing Spider-Man 2; yes, that is intentional. Also, props to anyone who can pick up on the Shazam! reference. 
> 
> Thank you once more to all who've been following this work by subscribing, leaving kudos, and especially those who have left comments. Your support is greatly appreciated. 
> 
> My prayers for you all, that you may stay safe and healthy in all ways during this crazy time. We will get through this! 
> 
> "What do you want me to do for you?" Luke 18:35-43


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sorry I ran off on you earlier doc," Max apologized. 
> 
> "I'm just sorry this has happened to you," Dr. Cho offered before continuing. "Well, from the tests we were able to conduct, it's not looking good. It seems that somehow, your body is not only generating continuous electrical energy, it now runs off of it. That explains why you have constantly felt the need to recharge."
> 
> "Makes sense," Max said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter, Bruce and Dr. Cho come up with a plan to help Max that involves a certain Vibranium heavy country in Africa, and Peter, Ned and M.J. figure out what to do about Betty.

Less than 5 minutes after speaking with Bruce, representatives from Stark Industries arrived on the scene. It took a lot of smoothing things over with the powers that be in the city, but finally they were on their way. Max had finally learned to control his powers enough that he could ride in the back of a vehicle without electrocuting everybody, so he and his wife piled in the back an ambulance styled vehicle, with Peter riding with them as well, just for good measure. For most of the trip, Max and his wife talked and Peter was nothing more than a bystander, which he didn't mind. Max had been through a lot recently, and Peter knew that if he had been in the same situation, all he'd want would be time with M.J. or May. He heard Max apologize repeatedly to his wife, who repeatedly assured him that she didn't blame him for what happened. Peter couldn't help but shake his head at this, as it reminded him of exactly how a lot of his interactions with M.J. would go. 

They finally arrived at the rebuilt Avengers headquarters, with Bruce and Dr. Cho waiting for them. They took Max to a more comfortable room than he was in before, where Dr. Cho also brought his wife and Peter in to discuss the situation as Bruce left the room, saying he had a call to make. Once they were in the room, Peter decided to remove his mask, since everyone present knew his identity anyway.

"Sorry I ran off on you earlier doc," Max apologized. 

"I'm just sorry this has happened to you," Dr. Cho offered before continuing. "Well, from the tests we were able to conduct, it's not looking good. It seems that somehow, your body is not only generating continuous electrical energy, it now runs off of it. That explains why you have constantly felt the need to recharge."

"Makes sense," Max said.

"So, if he doesn't continuously get electricity put into his system somehow, he'll die?" Max's wife asked, concern etched all over her face. 

"I can't say for sure, but it would be a likely outcome, yes," Dr. Cho answered. 

"Alright," Peter said, "now that we know that, do we have any thoughts on how to restore Max to normal?" 

Dr. Cho looked down for a moment, seemingly nervous to answer. 

"It's okay doc," Max said. "Just tell me honestly." 

"Frankly, Max," Dr. Cho began, "we still don't have the slightest idea how this happened to you, and your current condition makes it difficult to run tests. We need more information if we're to figure this out. Even with everything we have hear, we are nowhere near equipped to do that." 

"Is there anywhere that is?" Max's wife asked. 

"Dr. Banner should be speaking with one of our contacts in Wakanda now," Dr. Cho said. "Actually Peter, if you want to head to the main room of operations, maybe you can help him properly explain the situation." 

Peter nodded, immediately walking towards the room's exit, but stopped when he heard Max speak up. 

"Hey kid: thanks," Max said. "For everything." 

Peter simply smiled and nodded his head before heading out the door. He made his way through multiple hallways before coming to the main area of operations. He had been told that, during the Blip, Black Widow had set up the place to communicate with various individuals, Avengers or otherwise, to handle any crises that would arise. Now, the lines weren't often used, but still left open in case something ever came up. 

"Hold on a minute," Bruce said as Peter walked into the room, "Spider-Man in here can explain the situation in greater detail." 

Peter stepped up in view of the holograms to see that the "contact" Bruce had been speaking to was none other than Princess Shuri herself. Upon this realization, Peter did a bow, only to hear the princess chuckle at him.

"Please, there's no need for that," she said, causing Peter to straighten back up again. "Besides, if anything, I should be bowing to you. My brother says you saved his life by taking the gauntlet from him all those months ago." 

"We were all just doing the best we could that day," Peter said somberly. He then proceeded to explain Max's predicament to her, detailing various aspects of his physical state and powers that he'd observed in his encounters with him. 

"Well, I do like a challenge," Shuri said. "I'll have a room prepared for him. It can be ready as soon as tomorrow, and a ship can be sent to pick him up." 

"Thank you," Peter said, "you have no idea how much this means to Max, as well as his wife." 

"No problem," Shuri replied. "When my brother made the decision to open up Wakanda and its resources to the world, we had no true idea the extent of what we were getting ourselves into. This, however, helps us to realize all the good that we can do. Oh, and Spider-Man?" 

"Peter, please," he politely corrected, "at least when the mask is off." 

"Peter," Shuri corrected, "you'll have to come out to Wakanda sometime yourself. You sound like someone who would appreciate a lot of the technological advancements we make here." 

Wow, was Peter dreaming? Was he seriously getting invited to come to Wakanda and see all of their various inventions and discoveries?

"That would be awesome," he replied, trying to hide the full extent of his excitement. He still had his dignity, after all. 

They finalized the arrangements with Max and Tara, who just seemed to be grateful for everything being done for them. Once that was settled, Peter decided it was finally time to head home for the night. It was well past his bedtime, and that was saying something. 

"Thank you again, Peter," Max said. "And I'm sorry for all the trouble I've cause you." 

"You apologize too much," Peter said, winking. Max just smiled, letting out a huff of air as he realized his own words had been turned on him. 

"Seriously though, I really hope it works out for you guys," Peter continued.

"Oh, it will," Tara said, glancing towards Max. "We'll make sure of it." 

Peter smiled, gave one last nod, and headed out the door. Once he was out of the building, he went to the roof and performed his human slingshot routine, stretching two webs out as long as he could before launching himself over the woods in the direction of the city. It at least got him enough to get him a good start, allowing him to quickly swinging and maneuver his way through the remaining woods before coming out into the city. As he went from one jungle to another, he got a call from Yuri. 

"Everything go okay with Max?" she asked. 

"I think so," Peter said. "We're hopeful that he'll finally get the help he needs."

"That's good," she replied. 

"Yuri," Peter started, "I just want to say I'm sorry. I know I haven't been making your job very easy these last few days in particular, but I appreciate how you've been sticking up for me. It means a lot." 

"I'm just glad this insane situation is over with," she replied. "Well, mostly."

"What do you mean?" Peter said as he continued swung through the New York night. 

"Well, since you did stop Electro and prevent loss of life back at Times Square, there's no longer a warrant for your arrest," Yuri explained. "However, a lot of officers in the precinct are still upset at your interference from earlier."

"What was I supposed to do Yuri?" Peter questioned. "Let one side or the other get killed or seriously hurt?" 

"No, just...I'm just making you aware so you'll know to be on your best behavior. That's all," Yuri replied. 

"Okay," Peter said. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just that every time I think I'm making some progress in my relationship with you guys, something always happens to set things back." 

"The sad part is, as long as you where a mask, there will always be some who doubt," Yuri replied. 

"I know," Peter said, sighing. "Thanks again Yuri, for everything. Stay safe out there." 

"You too," she replied. Peter then hung up and continued making his way home, arriving at his window just a few minutes later. Sure enough, May was sitting on the edge of his bed, and got up to greet him as he came through the window. 

"Are you too hurt to get a hug from your worried aunt?" she asked him. Peter just smiled and snorted lightly at her question. 

"Come here May," he said as he pulled his aunt into a tight hug, which he returned. 

"I'm glad you're okay," she said quietly into his ear. 

"Yeah, me too," Peter joked, causing his aunt to chuckle a little. 

"Okay wise guy," she said as they removed themselves from their hugging positions. "I imagine we both need some sleep after this crazy night." 

"You said it," Peter replied. They then quickly said goodnight, and Peter wasted no time in removing his suit, taking a quick shower, and crashing hard on his bed. 

Peter eyes opened slowly as he stirred awake. He sat up, stretching his arms upward. He then glanced at the clock to see that it was already about noon. When he had went to bed, it had been almost four in the morning, so he had managed to get at least 8 hours, which was nice. He hadn't sustained any serious burns or other injuries despite the intensity of the confrontation the night before, so he actually pretty good overall in the morning for a change. 

As he got out of his bed, there was a knock at his door. 

"Come in," he called out, not surprised in the slightest to see May open and step through the door. 

"Morning sleepyhead," she teased. 

"Hey, you're not the one who fought an electrically powered being through Times Square last night," he retorted. May laughed for a moment, but then her face seemed to grow serious all of a sudden. 

"Is everything okay?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. 

"Peter, M.J. and Ned are both here," she replied. "They said they have something important they need to talk to you about." 

Oh yeah; there was still one more thing he needed to take care of. 

"I'll be down in a minute," he replied. May nodded before exiting the room, closing the door behind her. Peter quickly changed out of his pajamas and threw on some decent looking clothes and made sure he looked at least presentable before heading down the stairs to find M.J. and Ned sitting at the counter talking to May. They all turned and looked at Peter at the same time. 

"I'll give you guys a minute," May said, politely excusing herself as she left the room. The other two then stood up from their seats and Peter walked up to meet them halfway. 

"First off, we're glad you're not dead, of course," Ned said, eliciting a laugh from Peter. 

"Thanks man," Peter replied. "So, I'm guessing I already know what this is about?" 

"Betty texted both of us this morning," M.J. said. "She wants to meet up to talk about what happened." 

"I see," Peter replied. "I'm guessing there's a reason I didn't get the invitation?" 

"Her issue isn't with you Peter, it's with us," Ned added. "We just...we felt you should know." 

"Do you guys have a plan?" Peter asked. "You know, for what you're going to say."

M.J. and Ned glanced at each other, and Peter could tell the answer by the looks on their faces. 

"Not really," M.J. said. "That's the other reason we came to see you first. Whatever we ended up saying, we felt it was fair to you to get your thoughts on it." 

Peter sighed, turning around and taking a couple steps as he ran his hand through his hair, pondering the situation. He had talked about this with both M.J. and Ned, but he was just now realizing he hadn't really processed his own thoughts on the matter. He also knew that both of them were ultimately looking to him to make the decision, since it was his secret to tell and not theirs. 

"Guys," Peter finally said, turning and walking back until he was right in front of them again, "I can't lie: I don't want anyone else in on my secret. You have both seen first hand the kind of danger that puts people in. However, you guys have both known for some time now, and you have made the choice to stand by me in spite of the risks, which I could not be more grateful for. You two are both closer to her then I am, and I can see how much that has meant to you both. I'm willing to at least consider bringing her in on this, but I need both of you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you believe she can be trusted with something this big." 

There was another look between M.J. and Ned, and then they both looked back at Peter. 

"We believe it," Ned said, smiling. Peter then glanced to M.J, who nodded in the affirmative. Peter sucked in and let out a breath as he glanced back and forth between them. 

"Okay."

Peter perched himself on the side of a building in the alley, about 25 feet above M.J. and Ned. He was in his Spider-Man suit, mask and everything. They were just waiting on Betty now. The longer the wait went, the more Peter was second guessing himself. Part of him kept saying this was a mistake, and maybe it was. Still, M.J. and Ned both had vouched for Betty, and he trusted them both. Besides, they had both put up with his double life and everything that came of it for a while now, remaining loyal to him through it all. They had done nothing to pressure him, but he still felt as though he owed them at least one favor of this nature. Anytime the doubts crept back into his mind, he kept coming back to that point: this was something that M.J. and Ned deserved. 

Finally, Betty rounded the corner of the alley and approached Ned and M.J. Peter tuned in his enhanced hearing to listen in on the conversation below as he anticipated his role in the proceedings. 

"What on earth did you guys want to meet in a place like this for?" Betty asked, her arms clutched together. "It's freezing out here!"

"Sorry about that," Ned said, but we couldn't think of a better location for what needs to happen today." 

"Okay," Betty said skeptically. Even from his position, Peter could tell she looked a little concerned by the look of things. 

"Listen, Betty," M.J. spoke up next, "I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it at you. I just really didn't like what you were insinuating about Peter, and it got to me." 

"I understand," Betty replied, "and I'm sorry that I went there. It wasn't my place." 

"I'm sorry too," Ned said. "I'm your boyfriend, but I made you feel like I didn't trust you." 

"Yeah, just a little," Betty said, holding two fingers close together. "But at the same time, I respect that you and Peter are close and that you all don't need to tell me everything about each other. I just...I just hated feeling like I was being ignored, like I didn't exist." 

"We know," Ned said. 

"Look, Betty," M.J. said, stepping up towards Betty, "there is something Peter is involved in, but it's not what you think."

Betty said nothing, so M.J. continued. "Well, actually, why don't I just let him tell you himself." 

"Okay, where is he?" Betty asked. 

Both M.J. and Ned silently pointed up, and when Betty looked up towards him, Peter knew that was his cue. He jumped from his spot on the wall, landing a few feet behind Betty. He stood up from the crouched position he landed in to see that Betty's face was one of shock, to say the least. 

"Wait," Betty stammered, backing from him a little, "y-you guys aren't telling me that..." 

"Yep," Peter said as he grabbed the top of his mask and removed it. "I'm Spider-Man." 

For several seconds, there was silence in the alley, as Betty frantically looked back and forth between Peter and the other two, eyes wide and mouth open. 

"M-M.J. said something about what you do for the world," Betty finally stammered, "but I never would've thought..." 

"I know, it's pretty strange," Peter acknowledged. "Look, M.J. and Ned can fill you in on more of the particulars; I'm sure you have plenty of questions after all."

Betty seemed to be calming down a little; she turned to M.J. and Ned behind her. 

"You guys both knew?" she asked. 

"I've known longer," Ned said, which elicited a narrowed glare from M.J. that caused Ned to shrink back a bit. 

"They kept my secret because I asked them to," Peter said, drawing Betty's attention once more. "Betty, people who know my secret...they become at risk from those who would try to destroy me. We were all trying to protect you."

"So what changed?" Betty asked, a little more serious. 

"When M.J. and Ned told me about what happened after I left your house the other night, I realized what we were doing was really having the opposite effect: we were hurting you, and I'm sorry for the role I played in that," Peter explained. "We wanted to show you today that we all trust you."

Betty was silent once again, turning to face M.J. and Ned before turning back to Peter. She offered a smile, which did wonders to still Peter's racing heartbeat and quiet his restless mind. 

"So, do your webs actually, like, come out of your wrist?" 

Peter, Ned and M.J. all laughed at her question. 

"Long story short, no," Peter replied, "but now that the big reveal is done, how about we talks about this somewhere else?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! 
> 
> Only one more chapter to go! We've had a lot of stuff for Peter to deal with in this story, so how about we end things with some nice fluffy Spideychelle on Valentine's Day? 
> 
> My prayers go out to you all, that you stay safe and healthy during this crazy time. 
> 
> "For He rescued us from the dominion of darkness..." Colossians 1:13-14


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Man, I'm glad all this got sorted about when it did, just in time for Valentine's Day!" 
> 
> Peter's eyes went wide and his hands shot up to the sides of his head. Valentine's Day was only 3 days away, and he hadn't even started on M.J.'s gift! 
> 
> "You okay man?" Ned asked him. 
> 
> "Uh, yeah, I just remembered I need to work on M.J.'s gift," Peter stammered. "I've still got time, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I remembered I had planned on some follow up with Betty last chapter that didn't make it in, but still here it is, the final chapter! 
> 
> In This Chapter: Peter, M.J and Ned finish patching things up with Betty, and a Spideychelle Valentine's Day.

Peter and his friends went to the public library, got some warm drinks from the cafe and found an isolated table where they could discuss matters in private. As he suspected, Betty had a lot of questions. He answered most of them himself, but also left plenty of room for both M.J. and Ned to jump in as well. After answering everything from how he got his powers to what it was like going to another planet, Betty asked him the most important question of all. 

"So, why do you do it?"

Peter felt himself shrink back a little at her question as he lowered his gaze to his drink on the table. Even with all the time that had passed since that fateful night, he still wasn't completely comfortable talking about it, and he suspected he likely never would be. He remained silent for a few moments, as did everybody else at the table. 

"Sorry," Betty said. "I shouldn't pry so much. I know I've asked a lot of questions." 

"It's okay," Peter said. "These two can fill you in on the specifics some other time. Long story short, not long after I got my powers, I could've stopped something terrible from happening, but I didn't. I was too concerned about what I was thinking and feeling in the moment, and that had consequences." He looked down at his drink again before looking up at Betty again. "That day, I learned that, when you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen...they happen because of you." 

This time it was Betty's turn to shift her gaze to her drink. She leaned her left arm against the table as she put her hand against her head, like she was thinking about something. After a moment, she started crying. 

"What's wrong?" Ned asked, reaching over and taking her other hand. 

Betty sniffed back the tears before speaking: "It's just...I was so upset with you guys the other day, even thinking that maybe Peter was into something bad, and that you all were enabling him." She paused for a moment before speaking up again, her voice starting to break a little as she continued, "but he was out there being a hero, and you two were just honoring his wishes to keep that private. I just feel so selfish for how I acted." 

She looked at M.J. next, tears now fully streaming down her face, her voice barely coming out: "I'm so sorry for snapping at you in particular M.J," she said. "I assumed terrible things about him, and you were just sticking up for him." 

M.J. looked down for a moment. Peter couldn't tell if she was still a little upset at the memory of what was said that night or if she was just overwhelmed by the moment. After a few seconds, she looked back up to Betty. 

"I'm sorry too," she said. "I got too defensive, and your concerns were understandable."

Betty then turned to Ned too, but he stopped her before she could say anything. 

"You don't have to apologize to me," he said. 

"But I do," Betty insisted. "You and Peter have been best friends for years; I had no right to assume that you would just tell me his biggest secret." 

"You had no idea it was something this big though," Ned said. "M.J. was right: your concerns were valid. Let's just say all is forgiven, and move on. Sound good?" 

"Yeah," Betty insisted. M.J. nodded in agreement as well, and so did Peter. The four of them proceeded to simply enjoy each other's company for the rest of the day, eventually ending up at Ned's family's house, where they enjoyed pizza and trivial pursuit, which M.J. ended up winning. 

"Of course the queen of random knowledge would win this," Ned said, shaking his head. Peter watched as M.J. simply held her head high and proud at her achievement. 

"Don't worry Ned," Peter said, "one of these days, she's going to share enough of it with me that I might finally have a shot." 

"Nah," M.J. said dismissively. "You always have too much going on inside that head of yours to hold all of it."

"Guilty," Peter admitted, realizing it was true. He tended to carry the weight of the world, or at least the city, on his shoulders more often than not, which certainly took much of his thoughts. After a little while longer, the girls decided to head out, leaving just Peter and Ned. 

"I guess I better get going too," Peter said, beginning to gather his stuff. "I need to get some patrolling in."

"Wait Peter," Ned said, "there's something we need to talk about first." 

"What's up?" Peter asked. 

"Well, it's more of my own confession," Ned admitted, seemingly a little embarrassed. Realization suddenly clicked in Peter's mind. 

"Look man, if this is about the fact that you didn't tell me you were thinking about going away to school..."

"Please," Ned said, holding out a hand to stop Peter. "I need to say this." 

"Okay," Peter said, taking a breath. 

"This year, Peter, you...you've grown so much," Ned said. "You haven't needed me as much as your guy in the chair." 

Guilt instantly overwhelmed Peter as he realized his best friend was right; he had made an intentional effort to be more self sufficient overall, but not at the cost of not utilizing Ned's talents. He started to offer an apology, but Ned once again raised his hand to stop him.

"Which, yeah, it hurt at first," Ned continued, "but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was proud of you. Peter, like I said, you've grown so much. You've found your niche in life: helping people as Spider-Man. I realized that I need to find mine, and going to MIT is simply how I'm choosing to find it."

Peter's smile turned into a light smile as he shook his head. "When did you get so wise?" he asked in a half sarcastic voice. 

"Oh, I've always been wise," Ned retorted. "I've been learning from Yoda since I was a youngling, after all. 

Peter laughed at that, as did Ned, before the two boys pulled each other into a hug. 

"For the record," Peter said as his chin rested against Ned's shoulder, "you'll always be my guy in the chair." 

"I know," Ned responded. "Thanks." The two then separated and performed their ritual handshake. Peter turned and started to head towards the door when Ned spoke up and made one last comment. 

"Man, I'm glad all this got sorted about when it did, just in time for Valentine's Day!" 

Peter's eyes went wide and his hands shot up to the sides of his head. Valentine's Day was only 3 days away, and he hadn't even started on M.J.'s gift! 

"You okay man?" Ned asked him. 

"Uh, yeah, I just remembered I need to work on M.J.'s gift," Peter stammered. "I've still got time, right?" 

Peter found out over the next few days what the answer to his question was: not as much as he wanted, but it would have to do. Somewhere between school, Spider-Man, and work at the lab again since the power issue was finally resolved, he found himself staying up late the night before to finish it. Finally the day came, and Peter made the decision just before he went out the door to grab the flowers and give them to M.J. before school started, hoping that he could at least start the day on a good note. When they met up by his locker, he sheepishly offered them to her, and she took them and just stared at them for a moment, before giving him a kiss and saying she liked them.

Okay, so far so good; now all that was left was to worry about how she'd like the actual gift. He and M.J. planned to hangout that day after school, and he spent the entire time worrying that his gift wasn't as good as she deserved. Throughout each class he had to stop himself from tapping his fingers on the desk and his foot on the floor so as not to garner the attention of the teachers. 

At last, the final bell rang. Peter and M.J. met up in the hallway, from there heading to her and her mom's apartment. They would've at least considered going to his and May's, but Peter's aunt had told him earlier that her and Happy were going to meet for coffee, though it was only to talk. While the thought of May potentially looking into a serious relationship sounded strange to him, he knew even something as small as this was a huge step for her, and of course he wanted her to be...no, he wasn't going to finish that sentence. 

They finally got to her place, where M.J.'s mom greeted them. She had taken the day off so that she could cook for the two of them later on in the evening. For the time being, she excused herself to her room, leaving M.J. and Peter to have the living room. 

"So...I guess I can go first, if you want?" Peter asked nervously. M.J. offered no objection, so he took his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it, slowly pulling out his gift: a scrapbook. He handed it to her, his hand almost shaking as he did. This was their first Valentine's Day together, and he had wanted it to be perfect. 

She took the scrapbook from him and began sifting through it. For a while, she said nothing, and her long, curly hair blocked most of her face, so he couldn't get an idea of how she liked it. 

"I know it's not much," Peter said after a while. He had included plenty of pictures as it was: pictures of the two of them being silly, pictures of their test scores from their bets, pictures May had taken, etc. However, there were so many more that he wanted to include. He hadn't even been able to buy her a card, so he had resorted to a quick handwritten note that morning. 

M.J. looked up at him after going through a fair amount of the book, and Peter almost couldn't believe that he actually saw tears welling up in her eyes. 

"M.J.?" he said, not really sure how to respond to this development. She didn't say anything in return, instead closing the distance between them and pressing a strong kiss against his lips that sent Peter's head into a tailspin. 

"This is the best gift anyone has ever gotten for me," she said once they separated, a couple of tears finally escaping from her eyes. 

"R-really?" Peter said, completely shocked. He was sure he had blown it. She nodded her head frantically, causing him to let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. 

"My gift is terrible in comparison," she suddenly said. "Just a heads up." 

"If it's from you, I'm sure it isn't," Peter said. She smiled before holding up a finger and darting upstairs, probably to her room. Less than 30 seconds later, she came back with a book and a piece of paper in her hands, and she offered them to him. Peter took them, examining the book first. He smiled, letting out a chuckle as he noticed the title of the book: "100 Most Baffling Murder Mysteries." Before he had met M.J, he had never been into this kind of thing, but had grown accustomed to watching and hearing about it since they dated. 

"I'm not very good at this kind of thing," M.J. said, "and I didn't really know what to get, so that's what I came up with." Peter finally looked up from the book, and his heart sank a little as he saw M.J.'s body language: she looked small, like she wanted to hide from embarrassment. 

"I love it," he assured her. 

"Really?" she said, only letting out a partial smile. 

"Yeah," he assured her. "This is an awesome gift." 

"I mean, I know you're not into this like me," she said. 

"That doesn't matter," he said. "M.J, this is something that you love to talk about, and the fact that you want to share that with me...I know how hard it is for you to open yourself up to people. That fact alone makes this worth more to me than anything else you could've got me." 

M.J. finally smiled; it was a bright smile, full of life and encapsulating most of her face. Peter was distracted just staring at her for a moment before realizing he hadn't looked at the paper she handed him. It was a note.

"Peter; sorry, I don't do 'dear,'" it began. 

"It's hard to put into words what these last several months have meant to me, and you know I'm not one to talk about my feelings much. Honestly, I made up my mind from a young age never to fall in love. Boys were a distraction; they were rude, annoying, and weird. Then you came along.

Don't get me wrong: you're definitely weird, but you were different. You were kind. You listened. You cared. In short, you were nothing like anyone I knew. So I watched you. I watched as you enjoyed the small things in life. I watched as you helped other people. I watched as you always seemed to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, and I found myself wanting to ease your burden. I came to want nothing more than to show you that you weren't alone. Maybe I was tired of being alone too. 

Then you started paying attention to me too...and I didn't know how to react at first. I kept telling myself, 'There's no way he's thinking the same thing. There's no way he could care about a snarky, sarcastic, weirdo loner like me.' But you kept paying attention, and then, on that fateful day, at the end of the craziest class vacation of all time, you told me you liked me. No, you REALLY liked me. 

Ever since that day, it's when I wake up that I feel like I'm living a dream. I keep waiting for the day when you realize just how broken I really am. Yet, somehow, you always find new ways to make me feel like I can do anything. I was worried that when we got together, I would lose my sense of independence, but instead, you have encouraged me in what I want to do and you have pushed me. 

You have helped me become a better person, Peter. 

For that, I will always love you, 

M.J." 

Peter felt as though a dam had broke in his eyes, as now it was his turn for them to well up. 

"For someone who doesn't like talking about feelings," he began as he wiped his eyes, "that was the most beautiful thing I ever read." 

He glanced at M.J, who was blushing hard at his words. 

"Thank you," he added. 

"You're welcome," she replied. They then stepped towards each other, once more closing the distance with a kiss. They held it for a moment, neither one of them in any rush to part. Finally, they pulled away.

"Happy Valentine's Day, M.J." Peter said. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one down. Wow! 
> 
> So, what did you guys think? As always, your thoughts are welcome. 
> 
> Here's the layout for the rest of this series: another multi chapter story, a one shot, and then the final story that will conclude Peter's senior year. I had a particular set idea in mind for the next story, but since then I've thought of a couple other ideas, so I'm going to make sure I decide which one is the most natural continuation of this story. 
> 
> I will also be looking to write more Spideychelle specific one shots as well, and I will also be looking at delving into writing more for the PS4 version of the character, so I hope you'll check those out! 
> 
> Thank you to all who have joined me on this wild ride and have shown your support by comments, kudos, bookmarks, etc. I hope that I will continue to write in a manner worthy of your readership. 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone! 
> 
> "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this..." Romans 5:6-11

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really excited about this story; I think it has a lot of potential. I just hope I can successfully juggle all that will be going on! Guess we'll see! 
> 
> Also, I'm planning on posting the first chapter of another story soon. That one will still be MCU inspired (Michelle and Ned will still be Peter's friends, for instance), but some of their histories will be changed up and I will sprinkle in a mix of comic and Spectacular Spider-Man series elements. I still hope to keep a pretty steady update schedule, but if it gets to be too much, things might change a little on that front. Stay tuned! 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone! 
> 
> "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them..." Luke 15:1-7


End file.
